


Cycle

by luoyingu



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Gang World, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Backstory, Dialogue Heavy, Dirty Talk, Emotionally Repressed, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Knotting, Lawyers, M/M, Mafia AU, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No mpreg, Omegaverse, One Shot, Social Issues, Top Minhyuk, hell yeah they switch, homophobic parents, jooheon goes into a rut, joohyuk-centric, this is long, top jooheon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 05:04:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15478272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luoyingu/pseuds/luoyingu
Summary: The one where Minhyuk's a lawyer that represents omegas and Jooheon is casually in one of the most powerful mafia factions in all of South Korea. Minhyuk accidentally snoops where he's not supposed to looking for more information to help the girl of a case that he lost, and he gets sucked into a world he knows nothing about with (for better or worse) Jooheon as his guide.





	Cycle

**Author's Note:**

> buckle up buckaroos this is gonna be a lengthy author's note but i got warnings so please read!!
> 
> okay so since i'm on bed rest, i've busied myself with making this. I've always wanted to try my hand at a mafia/gang au and an omegaverse au so i combined them together into this. I also wanted to write for monsta x again, so here we are.
> 
> warnings: mentions of rape, but it isn't described in detail at all, just stated that someone did it/wants to do it. if that makes you uncomfortable then please don't read this or skip over parts. thank you. (I went out of my comfort zone with this one ngl)
> 
> the gangs/mafia factions talked about in here are indeed real, but if you need more clarification because I used the korean names or you just wanna know, check the end notes. (reason I say this is because I took the liberty of switching some things around for the sake of plot.)
> 
> please excuse any grammatical errors, i couldn't get anyone to beta this :( hope you guys enjoy!!

Lee Minhyuk had a bone to pick with someone. He needed to go somewhere soothing before he unleashed his anger out on someone who didn't deserve it. His suit was way too tight on him. Being an omega was one thing, but being an omega  _lawyer_ was a totally different ballpark. The laws about caste equality were still utter bullshit, and on more than one occassion (one of those occassions being  _today_ ) his status was waved in his face like it was something he should be ashamed of. Minhyuk wasn't stupid; he knew all those men in that courtroom could smell the omega on him. 

He was told more than once by his superiors that he should just suck it up and take blockers and supressants, but he politely declined. He figured that since all the alphas (and suprisingly some betas) wanted to talk shit on his status, then he should make them suffer a little bit. Minhyuk represented omegas who didn't have a voice in court. Minhyuk was a damn good lawyer; he's won more cases than some alphas in the area. This made him a threat. At the courthouse today, his opponent never failed to give him bedroom eyes when the judge's eyes weren't on either of them. Minhyuk wanted nothing more than to throw the man out the court window. 

But that wasn't even what had him upset. He was upset because he  _lost_ this case. He lost a case that he should have won. All the evidence of misconduct was stacked on the alpha in the trial, yet Minhyuk still lost. The omega was a sight to see. She was beat up, and Minhyuk would swear on his grandmother that the alpha in question did it. Domestic violence, public quarrel; Minhyuk didn't care what it was. That alpha was guilty, and for him to lose a pretty clear-cut case was a blow to his credibility. He was going to get that girl justice though, that was for sure. It would have to be outside the courtroom.

He stepped into his friend Hoseok's cafe, and took a seat at a booth. He sighed, throwing his suitcase and blazer across from him. He leaned back and closed his eyes. He knew Hoseok wouldn't mind if he crashed here for a bit before he headed home.

"Hard day?" Shin Hoseok asked. Minhyuk nodded. Hoseok was an omega just like him, and Minhyuk had helped him get the permits to build his own cafe. Minhyuk had experience working with hard-ass alphas while Hoseok didn't. He didn't mind helping his friend achieve his dream. Lord knows how many nights he complained to Hoseok during law school.

"I lost a case representing an omega girl." Hoseok set some tea in front of Minhyuk and pushed his belongings aside to sit across from him in the booth.

"Damn, that's tough." Hoseok said, sighing. "I know you don't give up, though." Minhyuk sat up and took a sip of the tea.

"Hell yeah I don't give up. I'm gonna do some more snooping off the books to see what was up with that. There's no way I should have lost." 

"Be careful." Hoseok warns. "You don't know what type of life this girl comes from." Minhyuk smirks.

"I'm always careful." Hoseok gives him a look.

"It's not cool to lie." Minhyuk chuckles as the door jingles to the cafe. Hoseok excuses himself as someone clears their throat.

"Well, well. If it isn't omega boy." Lee Jooheon taunts. Minkyuk rolls his eyes. He doesn't have time for  _this._

"What the hell do you want?" Minhyuk asks coldly. Jooheon clears his throat, running his hands through his blonde hair. Minhyuk can say that even after high school, Jooheon kept his delinquent look. 

"I heard about the case. Tough break." Jooheon says. Minhyuk is thoroughly confused.

"How did you hear about it?"

"There is a thing called the news. People see it as controversial." 

 _"So nice_ to know that you care." Jooheon scoffs.

"Even though I'm a known asshole, I hate jerk alphas. I also take pity on cute omegas...like you." Minhyuk blanches.

"Get whatever you're getting here and get out. Hoseok doesn't need your bum ass in his cafe." Jooheon feigns hurt.

"Ouch, Minhyuk. I didn't know you felt that way." Jooheon laughs, walking away. Minhyuk takes another sip of tea and sighs. He and Jooheon used to be really good friends in their childhood.

That all changed the day Jooheon presented as an alpha. Minhyuk was late in presenting, and when Jooheon presented as an alpha, he was damn sure that Minhyuk would be one right beside him. It is a time he would like to forget; the time he presented as an omega.

  


_It was a quiet day in Jooheon's house. His parents were out, and Minhyuk had invited himself over. Jooheon had no problem with that; Minhyuk could be here anytime he wanted to be. They'd been friends for a while now. Minhyuk could smell the alpha on Jooheon, and even though he hadn't presented yet, that smell was strong._

_"Jesus, do you take any blockers? It reeks of alpha." Minhyuk says, stepping into Jooheon's bedroom. Jooheon snorts._

_"Nah. Gotta let em' know what I am, right?" Minhyuk shakes his head and plops on Jooheon's floor, opening a book. Jooheon whips out his phone and they stay like that for a while, Minhyuk reading his book and Jooheon tapping away on his phone. A comfortable silence comes over the room. Even though they weren't really talking, neither wanted to be alone._

_As Minhyuk gets deeper and deeper into his book, he feels himself getting hotter. It doesn't make sense; it's the dead of winter in Seoul. Jooheon has the air cranked up, and Minhyuk also gets the urge to scratch his neck. He does so, and the itch only persists. His body feels weird; he feels way too hot. He looks at Jooheon. The teens appears the same, still looking intently on his phone. He feels sweat gather at his forehead. He shrugs it off and continues reading._

_After the feeling being there for a while, Minhyuk speaks up._

_"How did it feel when you presented as an alpha?" Minhyuk asks. Jooheon looks at him and smiles._

_"Shit, it hurt. It was a pain that I didn't think I could take. The pain overtakes you; you end up blacking out after a while. When you wake up, you're an alpha. Other alphas have said the same thing." Minhyuk began to panic a little bit. He was feeling heat, not pain. Albeit, the heat was uncomfortable, but it wasn't pain. Not like that._

_"What about a beta or an omega?"_

_"I've heard betas feel cold, like they just got submerged in ice-cold water. Their skin prickles, and they have to warm up to sweat it out. Once that's done, they've presented as a beta. Omegas...I've heard they feel hot. Like how they would feel before they go into heat. Except the heat when they present is probably the worst one they'll have if they're not trying to get pregnant. Omegas usually need help when they present; they get really horny. Once they've been helped, they've presented as an omega." Minhyuk was in full panic mode. He needed to go home, this hot feeling throughout his whole body was just getting worse. And if, on the very off-chance, he presented as an omega, he could not be around Jooheon. He'd probably just end up jumping the other guy, and that wouldn't end well for their friendship._

_"Jooheon. Think I'm gonna go home." Minhyuk says. He can feel sweat down his back and his arms. Shit, he could also feel his cock twitch. He was presenting as an omega. He knew this deep down. He wanted to cry. He didn't want to be an omega; they delt with some of the worst shit he's seen in his life. He didn't want to deal with that._

_"Why? You just got here not too long ago. Wait." Jooheon said, sniffing the air. Minhyuk had to leave. Now. He went to stand up, but his thighs felt wet. He sighed. He had read up on this, mostly because his parents forced him to. He was producing slick, which helped himself and an alpha out in sex. His body was preparing to be fucked. Minhyuk had to leave._

_"It smells sweet in here...like cookies..." Jooheon said. "Are you hiding some food from me?" Minhyuk dirtily thought about Jooheon eating_ him  _and he flushed red all over._

 _"No. I don't have any food. I have to go." Jooheon hopped off of his bed and walked towards Minhyuk. Good god, he was going to pass out or jump Jooheon. If Minhyuk thought the alpha smell was strong when he first walked in the house, it was nothing compared to this. This shit was on ten; this was overwhelming. Minhyuk unconsiously pushed Jooheon back. He couldn't take this smell of spearmint and..._ alpha  _anymore._

_"Get back!" Minhyuk screamed. Jooheon looked at him._

_"What's your problem? Jesus, you're bitchy and you look like you just ran a marathon!" Jooheon asked, confused and a little hurt. Minhyuk had never yelled at him like that. Minhyuk's cock was aching to be touched, he just wanted to be touched. Why wasn't Jooheon touching him? He just wanted to rut on something, fuck, he just wanted to be_ filled.

_"Fuck." Jooheon said, opening his mouth. His canines popped out and Minhyuk wanted Jooheon to mark him up, he wanted him to fuck him real good. Minhyuk whined._

_"There's an omega around. One that's going into heat. Damn, but where?" Minhyuk couldn't take this anymore._

_"It's me you idiot!" Minhyuk shouted, on the verge of tears. Jooheon turned to him and stared._

_"You?" Jooheon asked, his eyes going wide._

_"Yes." Minhyuk whispered. He didn't want to say it himself, but if Jooheon or_ someone  _didn't help him through this, he just might die._

_"You're in heat. Shit." Jooheon said. He wasn't gonna lie. His body was reacting as well. His cock was rock hard, and he just wanted to (suprisingly) rut up against Minhyuk and make him cry in pleasure. That was alarming. Minhyuk was one of his best friends. He couldn't do that. His canines scraped his bottom lip. His body was saying otherwise._

_"Please help me." Minhyuk begged. He looked at Jooheon with tear-rimmed eyes and Jooheon lost it. He all but pinned Minhyuk to the wall, sniffing his scent gland. Jooheon licked and nipped at it, and Minhyuk came in his basketball shorts, tears running down his eyes. He was furious that it happened that quick, but the heat wasn't gone. In fact, he just got hotter, and he pushed Jooheon off of him stripping himself of all his clothes. Jooheon stared at Minhyuk's body. He was hot, and Jooheon couldn't find it in himself to deny that fact._

_"Are you just gonna stare or are you gonna help me?" Minhyuk asked, crossing his arms. His chest felt sensitive, and his cock even more so. He didn't even want to know what his hole would feel. Jooheon licked his lips._

_"I'll help you. I won't bite you. Are you okay with me knotting you?" Minhyuk almost keeled over at the thought of Jooheon's knot catching around his rim._

_"Yes, yes, just help- just help me." Minhyuk breathed out shakily. Jooheon closed the distance between them and got to work._

  


After Jooheon basically fucked the utter shit out of Minhyuk, Minhyuk went home and he had presented as an omega. Jooheon and Minhyuk mutually stopped hanging out after that. Jooheon for the fact that he constantly wanted to fuck Minhyuk and Minhyuk for the fact that he  _wanted_ Jooheon to do all of those things to him. When they graduated college, Minhyuk didn't even have a clue as to what Jooheon did. Minhyuk put up this front as if he didn't like Jooheon. In some ways, it wasn't a front.

Minhyuk hoped that Jooheon wasn't going to become one of those knuckleheaded alphas, but that was what he became. He made shit jokes about omegas (and even betas), often talked about his hook-ups, and he thought he was entitled to things just because he was an alpha. Minhyuk hated that. But sometimes, like today, Jooheon suprised him.

Minhyuk realized that he was almost out of tea. Jooheon had picked up his coffee, and was sitting alongside Hoseok on a stool watching the news on the little tv Hoseok had purchased for the cafe. Hoseok was closed for a break. His employees were gone getting food or running errands, so the cafe was empty aside from the three of them. Hoseok sighed, scrolling through his phone.

"Did you guys hear about that raid the police did to a safehouse of the Yang-eun Faction?" Minhyuk gave a noise of acknowlegement.

"Yeah. Damn mafia. Why can't these people go out and get real jobs?" Minhyuk asks annoyed. He would never understand organized crime. If you were that smart to do illegal shit under the table, weren't you that smart to go out and get a real job?

"They say it was a set up by the OB Faction. They're really coming up, but they're not ahead of the Seo-bang Faction." In South Korea, there were three main factions of the mafia. The Seo-bang, Yang-eun, and OB. Each were powerful in their own sense, but there's a top faction. Seo-bang has held that spot for many years, but the OB faction was trying to slowly overthrow the Seo-bang Faction. Minhyuk had done studies on these mafias mostly because of their ties to omega trafficing. He can say that the OB faction doesn't do that, but they do run illegal prostitution rings like the others.

"You've been reading up." Jooheon mutters, taking a sip of his coffee. Hoseok nods.

"The Seo-bang Faction could come and try to collect from me, god forbid. I'm an omega; I have to take precautions like this!" Hoseok exclaims. Minhyuk could never for the life of him understand why Jooheon tried to get under  _his_ skin for being an omega but not Hoseok's. Maybe because Hoseok made damn good coffee and Jooheon didn't want to lose that. Hoseok would also never hit him, but Minhyuk would give him a good one to the kisser if he pushed hard enough. Jooheon's phone began to ring, and he quickly answered it. He spoke in hushed tones, and when he hung up, he looked pissed as hell.

"I'll see you guys later. I have to go take care of some business." Jooheon says cryptically, standing up and taking his coffee with him.

"What's up with him?" Minhyuk asks. Hoseok shrugs.

"I have no clue. Do you want more tea?" Minhyuk smiles and holds out his cup for Hoseok to take. It wasn't his business to worry about Jooheon. That stopped being his concern a long time ago.

  


||

  


   


A few days later, Minhyuk was in his house holed up, reading over the girl's file again. Her name was Oh Chunja, and she was in her early 20s. The alpha who was in question was named Min Hyoseob. He was a bulky alpha, someone that Chunja could not overpower if the situation need be. Minhyuk frowned turning the pages of the file. Her pictures when she went to the hospital to press charges were gruesome to say the least. He didn't understand why Seoul (or any of Korea really) chose to sweep this type of shit under the rug. It made no sense. 

He looked at her address. So she lived in the area where the Yang-eun Faction was most prominent. Minhyuk made notes on a piece of paper. If that was the case, could it be that the guy was a member of the Yang-eun Faction? Minhyuk didn't dismiss the idea. Sometimes government officials liked to side with the mafias around Seoul; it was easier that way. People didn't get hurt, kidnapped, or killed that way. Chunja was going to have to go back to that neighborhood and face the music. Minhyuk didn't know if she'd live. Hyoseob (from public records Minhyuk accessed) looked as if he lived in that area as well. The files showed that Chunja and Hyoseob had a fling going, but it went wrong. Chunja was also spotted working in the OB Faction's prositution ring. 

Minhyuk sighed, shuffling all the papers on his desk. If she was tied to the Yang-eun Faction and deliberately worked in an OB Faction ring, Yang-eun members (specifically Hyoseob) would get angry at that. She should be working at one of the various Yang-eun rings. Maybe she liked the treatment better? Maybe she wanted an out, and someone from the OB Faction gave her one? Minhyuk was stumped. He was a lawyer; he couldn't associate himself with these affairs. He valued his life, after all.

But he wanted Chunja to get justice. She deserved that. When Minhyuk was talking to her in the interview getting her statements, she sounded so empty; so void of hope. It chilled Minhyuk to his core.

  


_"Tell me everything you want to say. I'll record your voice and type it all later. Just say what you feel about Min Hyoseob." Chunja looked around the blank room in Minhyuk's office. She had a swollen cheek, a black eye, and a split lip. Minhyuk glanced at her pictures on the table. She was beautiful. She still would be when all the damage has healed. She wasn't even looking at Minhyuk; she glanced at the ground._

_"When you live the life I live...you become immune to things. You take things for what they are, for what you are given. You don't question...you just do." Her voice was strong. Minhyuk had hit record ages ago._

_"Hyoseob...he was someone that I could say I loved. I loved him. I did. He comforted me, he didn't act like any alpha I had encountered before. But then...then I made a decision for myself and then I saw the truth. I saw it. I was his little toy. In me thinking he wasn't like any alpha, he was like_ every  _alpha. He was like a monster. Then the clock striked twelve...and my time was up. So here we are. Me trying to do something for myself yet again knowing it's going to go to shit just like everything else. I have nothing else to say."_

_Minhyuk cut the recorder off._

  


Ever since that moment, he knew he made a connection with Chunja. It was silent, unspoken but there. They were both omegas and even though Minhyuk was a man and he had not ever been beaten, they still shared a connection. Society didn't like them. It never did. It saw them as sexual playthings. Chunja had respect for Minhyuk because of his taboo profession, and Minhyuk had respect for Chunja because of how strong she was. Minhyuk closes the folders full of files and stands up. He was going to check some things out. One thing was making sure Chunja was under some type of witness protection program. She wasn't going to be in trouble just because of a trial gone wrong. 

Minhyuk whipped out his phone and dialed a number. After three rings, Jeonghan answered.

"What's up?" His beta friend asked. Minhyuk sighed.

"I need you to hook me up with some backup. I'm going on an off the books mission." Jeonghan sucked in a breath.

"What are you getting yourself into Minhyuk?"

"Nothing too dangerous, I just need backup in case things go wrong." Jeonghan makes a noise into the phone.

"Fine. I'll give you three guys, no more than that." Minhyuk chuckles.

"Thanks."

"You owe me dinner."

"Cheol wouldn't get jealous?" Jeonghan scoffed.

"It's just dinner! He should be happy that he won't have to cook that day!"

  


||

  


   


The three guys Jeonghan rounded up were named Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Minghao. They all sat behind Minhyuk as he pulled up into Chunja's neighborhood. The apartments weren't all that good quality, and Minhyuk sighed. Just smelling he could tell all three guys were alphas behind him in the car. It's unnerving having that many in a proximity, but Minhyuk squashed down the feeling.

"When I go to this address, I just need you three watching out in case something happens. I don't expect it to, but y'know." Minhyuk explains. They all nod and take their positions as Minhyuk walks up the stairs to Chunja's apartment number. When he got to Apartment 315, he knocked loudly. An elderly woman answered the door, and smoke came from her nose. She had a cigarette in her hand.

"Can I help you?" She asks, her voice like gravel. Minhyuk gives her a smile.

"I'm just here to talk to Chunja. She lives here?" The old woman sighs and gives a chuckle that sounds like sandpaper. Minhyuk fights the urge to cover up his ears.

"That girl hasn't been around here since that bogus trial. She knew better than to try Hyoseob. I told her, and she didn't listen to me. Now I don't even know where she is." Minhyuk was confused. He kenw Chunja was defeated at the trial, and Minhyuk had promised her they were going to get a re-trial as soon as he stacked up more evidence, but he didn't think she would bounce town.

"What do you mean by she knew better?" Minhyuk asks, not thinking ahead. Luckily for him this old lady liked to gossip.

"Hyoseob. He's buddy-buddy with a bunch of Yang-eun men. What are you, someone who got their heart broken by her?" Minhyuk quickly nods his head.

"She never called me back." Minhyuk lies. The elderly lady smacks the doorframe with her hand.

"Ha! I knew it. She always does this to the good guys; you look like a fine young man. I told her she didn't have to make money that way, that she could take a job at the shop. She denied it. She stuck by Hyoseob as if he was glue. That man is horrid. She got a job that wasn't great in the slightest, knowing it would piss Hyoseob off. Then he beat her. And now she's gone. I don't know where that idiot is now." The woman went on, worry coating her voice. Minhyuk sighed. If saddened is what his face conveys, he's glad.

"Jesus...I didn't know she had another man. I didn't know she was like that." The old woman shakes her head and takes another drag of her cigarette.

"Well, she wasn't exactly nice like that. She took the independent omega trope to heart. Until she met Hyoseob...the man full of promises he didn't fufill." Minhyuk nodded at the woman. He was about to tell her good day when there was a sharp whizzing noise. Then, the next thing Minhyuk knew, the old woman was slumped in front of him, blood gushing out from her neck. Minhyuk had half the mind to scream, but nothing came out. He caught the woman. He knew this was very bad. If anyone found him like this he was going to be in some deep shit. Even though he didn't do anything, he'd have to answer for his own little private investigation. Something told him he knows way too much now.

Minhyuk pressed the bluetooth button he had on his ear.

"A old lady just got shot. Patrol the area. We're in fucking danger." He bites out. All rationality is sort of gone from his mind; he's only doing what's coming to his brain right now. He cannot move. The blood is thick; it's seeping through his blazer and on his button down. His white button down. The cigarette was still lit, just on the ground. Minhyuk made a miniscule move to put it out. He wasn't going to leave even though he was right in the opening of the stairs. There was blood on the concrete, on the walls, and on the door. Minhyuk could feel it on his face, it was drying and becoming crusty. He didn't know if the person who took the clean shot was around still or not, but he wasn't about to move to find out.

Soon, Minhyuk heard footsteps behind him. He closed his eyes and prayed to God that it was either Wonwoo, Mingyu, or Minghao. He would explain everything, he would tell all that he knew-

"You smell like omega." A deep voice said. Minhyuk felt a tear slip. He was in  _very deep shit._ He had no clue who that voice was.

"Speak when you're spoken to, huh? That's not the way to treat an alpha." The voice taunts.

"Are you the one who shot this elderly lady?" Minhyuk asks quietly. All he can hear is breathing.

"She knew too much. She was talking to you, and I'm pretty sure if you pryed even more, you'd know the same. You know some though and that's enough." Whoever this was must have had the house bugged. The man puts his hand on Minhyuk's shoulder, and Minhyuk spins around slowly, the body still in his hand. She was cold. The man was _Hyoseob._

"Oh? The infamous omega lawyer, Lee Minhyuk. Fancy seeing you here in Yang-eun territory. What are you doing here, anyway?" Minhyuk's bottom lip trembled.

"Just...visiting." Hyoseob nodded.

"Ah. Visiting, right. You know we don't take kind to people like you, right?" Minhyuk sighed. This was where he died. He was going to die here, by this man's hands. Hyoseob took the lady's body from Minhyuk and set her on the ground. This whole scene freaked Minhyuk the hell out. He wouldn't scream, though no matter how much his brain was telling him to.

"I bet you wear a belt of chastity, huh? I bet the only time your hole's been fucked was when you presented. You're this good-ass lawyer. I wanna see how good you really are." Minhyuk's worst fear was coming to life. This man was going to come onto him, another woman's blood on him and all. This was beyond disgusting. He snapped and pushed the man out of the way, rushing down the stairs. Gunshots were heard. He saw Minghao shooting and ducking. Had that been happening before? Had he just been to dazed to notice? He couldn't tell.

Hyoseob was hot on his tail, and that only propelled Minhyuk to run faster. God, he just wanted to go home. He regrets even waking up this morning. He runs through the street, not caring who sees. Soon, someone grabs Minhyuk by his blazer and pulls him into an alleyway. Minhyuk thinks his heart is beating a mile a minute. He clutches his chest, and shields his body. He doesn't know what creep brought him here; but he knows it can't be good.

"I know how to fight!" Minhyuk yells.

"No you fucking don't. Not against an angry alpha, anyway." A familar voice says. Minhyuk looks up and there stands Jooheon, and another guy with light brown hair that he doesn't know.

 _"Jooheon?_ What the fuck is going on?" Minhyuk asks under his breath, holding his head. He had steadily ignored the uncomfortable feeling of the blood on his chest and body, but even that was grating on his nerves. Add Jooheon's annoying ass to the mix and he was _done_.

"Saving the damsel in distress, obviously." Minhyuk looks at Jooheon and brown hair and he realized they were both  _strapped._

 _"_ Why do you have a damn _gun_?" Minhyuk asks. Jooheon sighs.

"All will be told in good time, Minnie." Minhyuk almost slapped Jooheon. That was a nickname from their childhood and he didn't appreciate Jooheon bringing things from the past into the present.

"We need to go. Smart guy over here brought backup." Brown hair said, pointing to Minhyuk. "I don't blame him, but if we just take him red flags will show up." Jooheon nods.

"Thanks, Changkyun. Now, Minhyuk. I need you to go into the street and meet your little backup and leave. Or go to the station or stay here, whatever, I don't care." Jooheon looked him up and down, and Minhyuk swore he saw unabashed concern and fear in his eyes. "Once you're safe, we'll talk about this more." 

"Talk? What is going on! Why are you here?" Minhyuk's eyes widened. He pulled Jooheon into him by the collar of his cut tank-top. Jooheon was wearing rings, black leather pants, and black boots. He had on an assortment of chains around his neck. He looked like the epitome of bad-boy.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Honey?" Minhyuk asked quietly. If Jooheon was going to use his nickname, it was only fair Minhyuk returns the favor. Jooheon's eyes widened just a fraction at the name.

"Things you don't need to know about. Just look out for me, alright? We need to talk. By the way, Hyoseob will be taken care of." Minhyuk looks at the various tattoos that adorn Jooheon's body and nods. He releases Jooheon, but neither realized that Jooheon had his hands on Minhyuk's hips, and that Minhyuk had pressed his palms on Jooheon's chest. Jooheon and Changkyun slip away, and Minhyuk is left in the alleyway alone. 

The sound of sirens catches his attention, and when he hears Jeonghan's frantic yelling, Minhyuk drops to the ground. It wasn't an act. He was tired as shit. As he fell he remembered faintly that one of Jooheon's tattoos contained the letters OB, and that he shouldn't have known who Hyoseob was.

  


||

  


   


Minhyuk found himself in a hospital bed, and Hoseok was sitting by his bedside, looking asleep himself. Once he sat up, Jeonghan shot up from outside.

"How you feelin'?" Jeonghan asked, walking into the room. Hoseok sat up at the commotion and rubbed his eyes. When his eyes landed on Minhyuk, he beamed.

"You're awake! How are you?" Minhyuk saw that Seungcheol stood right behind Jeonghan. Jeonghan was a detective and so was Seungcheol. They ran an independent business that sometimes linked up with the police. Minhyuk figured that one of his backup called Jeonghan while the gunshots alerted the police and both of them arrived on the scene.

"I'm...okay." Minhyuk said. Seungheol sighed.

"That was a pretty tramautic experience. Are you sure?" Minhyuk nodded.

"I'm as okay as I can be. What's going on?" Minhyuk said, ready to distract his mind and jump back into work. If he thought about it hard enough, he could still feel the weight of that old lady in his arms. The blood seeping through his clothes and onto his skin. There was so much. He blinks a few times and looks at all three people in the room.

"Well for one, I sent Hyungwon to get food minutes ago and he's not back yet. What good is he for?" Hoseok complains. Minhyuk gives a chuckle at that. Jeonghan and Seungcheol look at Minhyuk.

"Could we have some time alone with Minhyuk?" Jeonghan asks Hoseok. Hoseok smiles warmly.

"Of course. I'll go find Hyungwon and tell him you woke up. He was worried, but you know him: he never wants to show it." Hoseok squeezes Minhyuk's shoulder and closes the door to the room. Seungcheol and Jeonghan watch him leave, then turn back to Minhyuk.

"The elderly woman's name was Oh Yeung. She was Chunja's grandmother." Seungcheol states. "She was 68." Minhyuk can't help the tear that slips from his face. Even though she said harsh things about Chunja, Minhyuk could tell she really cared about her granddaughter. Now she's dead all because she opened her mouth to the first person seriously asking about her granddaughter.

"Anything else?" Minhyuk asks, and he knows everyone in the room can hear how his voice trembles. Jeonghan looks at Seungcheol before continuing.

"Hyoseob was found dead hours later. He was splayed out in a busy intersection. This killing was done with intent. The person who did it...they had an emotional connection." Minhyuk gasped.

_By the way, Hyoseob will be taken care of._

The words echo around his head. Jooheon probably didn't mean to slip up like that, but something must have affected him. He  _did_ say he hates alphas like Hyoseob.

"Oh my god. Who killed him?" Minhyuk asked, feigning ignorance. He had a pretty good idea who did it. He also couldn't explain why he was covering for Jooheon. He blames it on their childhood, no matter how stupid that sounds.

"We don't know. Can't find any concrete evidence to link to a name. We don't condone killings like that, especially when they're displayed in such a gruesome manner...but SPD is thinking about sweeping it under the rug." Minhyuk is puzzled. Seoul would do that?

"You'd be suprised what will happen if there's so much damn controversy around it." Minhyuk realizes he speaks his question out loud and silently laughs. "You're also in this too, and I'm sorry about that. You've created a reputation for yourself. Because people around that whole area of Seoul (and even some people in Busan, go figure) know what Hyoseob was affiliated with, that seeped into the SPD's information about him. Add on the trial he just had not too long ago with a track record that isn't clean in the  _slightest..._ you pick and choose your battles." Minhyuk furrows his eyebrows.

"If the police don't say anything about it, Yang-eun members will go batshit." Minhyuk notes. Jeonghan sighs.

"We know. SPD is willing to take that chance. They're banking on Yang-eun doing something reckless and capturing high-ranking members. Or maybe they get into a brawl with either OB or Seo-bang; hell, they might just get both. These factions seriously hate the shit out of each other. If Yang-eun moves, it'll be only a matter of time before both OB and Seo-bang start plotting. Yang-eun is the most aggressive out of all three factions...who knows? Seo-bang and OB might just team up to bring Yang-eun down." Minhyuk thought about it. That would ultimately do all of Seoul good if Yang-eun was taken down despite there being the issue of two other major factions still alive. Yang-eun had horrendous ways of dealing with threats, and Minhyuk had seen so for himself.

"When can I leave? What happens now?" Minhyuk asks, changing the subject. He didn't like the idea of thinking about an all out mafia war. Especially when Jooheon has something to do with it. 

"You can leave today if you feel ready. The couple - Hoseok and Hyungwon - they said they'd take care of your discharge papers. They're gonna drive you home and we're gonna escort you. You're not out of the ballpark yet." Minhyuk gulped. How was he supposed to get any work done with this hanging over his head? Constantly having to look behind him to make sure no one's out to hurt him or worse.

"What about Chunja? Where is she?" 

"She legitimately left Seoul. We're getting into contact with other districts because this whole thing also stems around her as well. If we do find her, we'll need you to talk to her. She'd trust you the most." Seungcheol says, sitting down in a chair. Minhyuk couldn't lie; he was sort of angry with her. He understood her predicament and why she felt leaving Seoul was the best decision...and it was, looking at all the events that transpired. But now that she's left, that's made things ten times more difficult. Chunja knows more than she let on, and Minhyuk (like a  _dumbass)_  let her speak her mind out of sympathy and never got any tangible information from her. He feels like taking a very long break from his job.

"I'm ready to go today." Minhyuk states. No use sitting here feeling sorry for himself. "Will Yeung have a funeral?" Seungcheol and Jeonghan looked at each other.

"Naturally. We had SPD put out a message around districts that she had passed in hopes of it leading Chunja back here so she could speak and see her grandmother off with a proper burial." 

"And if she doesn't come back?" 

"Then, she'll be buried wherever the funeral home can bury her." Minhyuk couldn't let that happen. If Chunja ever came back to Seoul and she wasn't there to witness her grandmother's burial, she should know she's in a good place.

"Give me juridiction on that. I'll take care of it. I feel guilty, anyway. This is the least I could do." Jeonghan sat on the bed and rubbed Minhyuk's back.

"Do not feel guilty. _Nothing_ that happened was your fault. You were just trying to get justice for her granddaughter. Yang-eun is at fault here, and in due time they'll pay." Minhyuk stayed quiet after that.

  


||

  


   


"You slept for two days." Hyungwon said as they drove to Minhyuk's place. Minhyuk looked shocked.

"Are you serious? Why?" 

"The shock of it all combined with the fact that you don't sleep anyways shut your whole body down. You basically rebooted for two days until you felt ready to wake up again." Hoseok gave Minhyuk a look. He was always giving Minhyuk that look.

"You need to sleep more! Now that Doctor's orders keep you from walking into your work the very next day, I can feed you actual food."

"Hey! What I eat is real food, thank you very much!" Minhyuk pouts. Hoseok scoffs.

"Take-out is  _not_ real food. You can't live off that forever." Minhyuk slumped in his seat. Hoseok was probably going to cook him nothing but healthy shit. He turned around and sure enough, Seungcheol's Chevy was right behind them. He could see Jeonghan sipping on coffee in the passengers seat. It never fully hit him the severity of the situation until now. He was in danger. Yang-eun knew that he was the last person to see Hyoseob alive, and they want him in one way or another. Alive or dead. He also knew that somehow, someway, Jooheon was looking out for him.

Jooheon said when he was safe he would see him again, and that was days ago. He needed to see that man now. He was going to take it upon himself to call him up, Hoseok and Hyungwon prying be damned.

"I'm gonna call Jooheon. Let em' know what happened." Hoseok gasped in glee.

"You two are getting along now? What changed?" Minhyuk snorted.

"We're getting along like how we always have. I'm just gonna rub it in his alpha face that an omega stood up to all of that." Hyungwon chuckled from the passenger seat.

"Nice save." Minhyuk poked him in the back of the head.

  


||

  


   


Minhyuk looked at the number in his phone. He's had it in his phone since high school, and based on how both Hyungwon and Hoseok text it, it hasn't changed. If Minhyuk calls, things will shift. He doesn't want another shift. If he gets another shift, it might just end in something he doesn't want to face. But if Jooheon was really behind the killing of Hyoseob, then he needed to call. He also needed an explanation of the OB tattoo on his right bicep. Both things were very incriminating. Minhyuk wants to punch his past self in the face. He's looked at Jooheon's tattoos all the damn time, how did he miss  _that?_  He gulped and quickly pressed the button, holding the phone to his ear.

He heard rings, and he prayed Jooheon wouldn't answer. He almost got his wish when a voice asked "Hello?"

Fuck.

"Um, um, hello." Minhyuk breathed into the phone. 

"You calling is a suprise. We haven't called each other since high school." Jooheon says reminiscent. Minhyuk can't take any of this dancing around the issue.

"What is going on?" He asks as serious as his shaky voice will allow him. Jooheon just breaths on the line. Minhyuk listens. After a little bit, he answers.

"If I tell you, you cannot call the cops on me or tell any of your little detective buddies." 

"I promise I won't. What have you done?" Jooheon sighs.

"It would be better to tell you in person. I'll swing by your apartment tonight." Minhyuk blanched. Jooheon...in his  _apartment?_

"Uh, wai-" Before Minhyuk can express his concerns, Jooheon hangs up. Minhyuk goes to his living room and paces around. Everything's clean: he hasn't been in his apartment in a hot minute. He sits himself in his living room and busies himself reading a book until Jooheon comes to his apartment. He ponders on how Jooheon will find his apartment. Hyungwon and Hoseok left hours ago, and Jooheon could easily get the address from either of them. He curses the fact that Jooheon's good friends with them both. Even though they fell out, they were still able to keep the same friends. After leaving college, Jooheon and Minhyuk realized that their respective friends (Hoseok to Minhyuk and Hyungwon to Jooheon) were dating. They were forced to attend things with the couple, and soon they could stand to be in the same room with each other. Sure, their banter was passive-aggressive and - most of the time - filled with alcohol of some sort, but they could still tolerate each other.

They both just had to put what they've dubbed as The Incident aside.

Minhyuk lost in thought didn't realize how much time had passed. Loud knocks resounded on his front door, and Minhyuk jumped off his couch, hitting the floor. His black hair was ruffled up, and he quickly stood up, brushing himself off. He walked to the door and opened it slowly, cracking it slightly. He could never be too careful now. Jooheon was standing there, blonde hair slicked up and all. He had on a tight black long-sleeved shirt, his regular jewlery, light-washed black jeans, and black combat boots.

"Are you gonna let me in?" Minhyuk felt severly underdressed in his mustard yellow turtleneck sweater, khaki skinny jeans, and white socks. How could he feel underdressed in his own  _home?_

"Y-Yeah, uh, come on in." Minhyuk says, opening the door more. Jooheon stepped in and Minhyuk was instantly placed back to his high school self. Jooheon changed and he  _didn't,_ because the asshole still didn't take any blockers to dull his scent. Spearmint hit his nose like a freightrain, and Minhyuk almost teared up. It was a lot. Jooheon sniffed the air and sighed, plopping down on Minhyuk's couch.

"You still smell like cookies." Jooheon says bluntly, piercing Minhyuk with his gaze. Minhyuk concluded he was blushing. He sat in a chair left to the couch and sighed.

"Shut up. Do you want anything to drink?" Minhyuk asks.

"Water's fine." Jooheon says after a minute. Minhyuk can see Jooheon's canines in his mouth, but they aren't fully sheathed yet. He feels happy and dissapointed at that. He grabs a water bottle out of the fridge, tosses it to Jooheon (who catches it easily), and sits back in his chair.

"You're here to explain what the hell is happening. Go ahead. Talk." Minhyuk says, crossing his legs and looking at Jooheon. Jooheon takes a sip of the water, and nods his head, wiping at his mouth.

"Yeah. Okay. Just gonna say it out the gate: I'm a high-ranking member of the OB Faction. Have been for a few years." Jooheon states, drinking another sip of water. Minhyuk eyed him.

" _How_ high-ranking?" Jooheon sighed.

"Like the second-in-command?" Minhyuk picks up a throw pillow and whacks Jooheon with it.

"Are you  _kidding me?_ I'm in contact with a mafia member? What the-" Jooheon can't help but laugh.

"It's not that bad. OB is the most civil out of all the factions. Yang-eun is the one you need to watch out for; the one that ultimately wants you. Seo-bang is just annoying; they hold the title of the strongest faction because they've been around longer than OB and Yang-eun." Minhyuk puts his face on top of his hands.

"How did this happen?" Minhyuk asks, defeat in his voice.

"College didn't go well for me. I needed a job, OB offered me one. I had no other options so I took it. Done deal. OB gave me a family; people I could depend on." Jooheon says. Minhyuk was about to ask another question concering just what the hell happened in college for him when Jooheon interrupted him.

"Remember at Hoseok's cafe where you said, 'Why can't these people go out and get real jobs?'" Minhyuk curled in on himself. He felt like a jerk. "The reason is because most of us have nowhere else to turn, and no one else to ask for help. Seo-bang is financed based, Yang-eun is violence based, but OB is _family-based._ OB doesn't kidnap people. Yes, shit we do is illegal; would it be the mafia without that? But all the omegas that come into OB come willingly or are reccomended; we don't traffic omegas like Yang-eun or Seo-bang. We don't do things by the books all the time - and I know that's wrong - but we try to keep shit as clean as possible."

"Were you responsible for Hyoseob's death?" Minhyuk asked. He had to know. He saw the photos because Jeonghan got them for him. He saw how Hyoseob was killed. He was mauled, his throat ripped out and his body slashed. Animalistic. Predatory.

"Yes. While I regret the act of killing beacause a human life is a human life....I don't regret killing _him._ " Jooheon said, looking out into the distance. "What did he say to you? I saw how he was handling you up on the balcony. What did he say. Tell me." Jooheon borderline begs. Minhyuk doesn't look in Jooheon's eyes.

"He said I was a 'good-ass lawyer' and that he 'wanted to see...how good' I really was." Minhyuk squeaks out, looking down in shame. He doesn't like reliving that; it's embarassing and disgusting to be thought of that way, and he didn't even say all Hyoseob said. Jooheon clenches his fist.

"Thank you. I definitely don't regret ripping his throat out." Jooheon spits out. Minhyuk feels a heat pool in his lower belly. Jooheon killed another alpha because of  _him._ This was bad. He was feeling like he was in heat and it wasn't even near his heat time. Jooheon sighs.

"Shit, I think I'm getting more bold cause' it's almost time for my rut." Jooheon mutters, sipping more water. Jooheon's rut? He never had the chance to see what Jooheon was like during his rut. Jooheon had a built body and really thick thighs. Minhyuk can't lie; he's thought unholy thoughts about Jooheon's thighs. He snaps out of it, and realizes Jooheon is looking at him like...like  _he needs something._

"It's late." Jooheon says, snapping out of whatever his revoir was. "Do you wanna know anything else?" Minhyuk fiddles with his thumbs.

"Have you thought any different of me because I presented as an omega and you an alpha?" Minhyuk asks. This might be the only time Jooheon is going to be this honest with him.

"I was an idiotic teen at first, so yes. I make stupid ass jokes and act the way I do because I have a reputation to uphold. I came into OB a different person than the one you know. And while I make stupid jokes and act like an asshole...I don't condone the cast sterotypes and expectations. I don't think that way now. With the way you handled yourself a few days ago, it just shows that your biology means nothing." Minhyuk could cry. Those were the words he wanted to hear for so long.

"Um, thank you for that. I really appreciate it." Jooheon slaps Minhyuk on his shoulder.

"No problem." Minhyuk really should have pushed his hand away. He wishes Jooheon didn't squeeze. That broke the dam it took years to build. Minhyuk let out a long whine. Jooheon's hand stiffened.

"Minhyuk..." Jooheon said, licking his lips. "We probably shouldn't...we can't..." Minhyuk could give a damn what Jooheon did, if Jooheon had to kill anyone besides Hyoseob, how this could endanger his job; to hell with it all. If Jooheon didn't fuck him right here and now, he was going to go  _crazy._

"Jooheon, quit thinking and just feel. Just feel me." Minhyuk says, walking to sit next to Jooheon on the couch.Jooheon pauses for a few seconds, then scoops Minhyuk up in his arms and kisses him deeply. Minhyuk gives a happy whine and kisses back. A time stamp can't be put on how long they just sat there, kissing each other. Minhyuk could feel Jooheon's canines unhinge, and Minhyuk could feel his own do the same. A thought of  _bite, bite, bite_ flashed through his head, but he tampered that down. He couldn't bite no matter how bad he wanted to.

_mate, mate, mate!_

Minhyuk pulled away and looked at Jooheon. His lips were cherry red, spit-ridden, and his pupils were blown. Jooheon moved his hand down Minhyuk's back to cup his ass.

"What do you wanna do now?" Jooheon asked. Minhyuk remembers how considerate Jooheon was back then, and he thinks Jooheon really hasn't changed that much at all.

"I want you-" Jooheon suddenly gritted his teeth and groaned.

"Shit. All this stimulation forced my rut." Jooheon said through clenched teeth. Minhyuk could smell it; it was as if someone flooded the house with the smell of spearmint. "I don't know if you want this. When I'm in my rut, I fuck rough. You need to be in heat to catch up with me." Minhyuk didn't think there was a way to push his heat along, so he bucked up and gave Jooheon a determined look.

"It's okay. Let's get through your rut." Minhyuk says, an air of finality to his voice.

"Take me to your bed."

  


||

  


   


Jooheon was shaking. Minhyuk could feel it. He was just as nervous as he was, and that calmed Minhyuk down a little bit. They threw their clothes off and quickly grabbed each other again, tussling on the bed. Jooheon pinned Minhyuk down on the bed on his stomach, and Jooheon fitted right on top of him, nosing the scent gland in his neck. Minhyuk outright moaned, and pushed his ass against Jooheon's crotch. Jooheon met him halfway.

"Gonna suck you off." Jooheon mutters. Minhyuk flipped around, and Jooheon kissed and nipped (not biting) at his neck. He left marks he knew would be visible, but all Minhyuk could think of that  _one_ mark he knew Jooheon wasn't going to make. He wanted that mating bite so bad his canines itched. Jooheon moved south and fondeled Minhyuk's chest. Minhyuk knew that when he was aroused, his chest got way more sensitive than ever. Jooheon nipped his way around that, making Minhyuk grab him and hold him tight. Jooheon sucked at a nipple, and Minhyuk arched up off the bed.

"Ah! Jooheon- you can't-" Jooheon hummed, creating a nice vibration. Minhyuk could feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Why didn't they talk sooner? Damn them and their stupid pride; they could have been doing  _this_ instead of yelling at one another. Jooheon moved lower and licked at Minhyuk's stomach. Minhyuk's muscles danced for Jooheon anytime the man touched him. Jooheon got to Minhyuk's crotch, and he spread his legs open. He nipped and left marks on his thighs, and finally, took the tip of Minhyuk into his mouth.

Minhyuk could have come right there. Jooheon was being a tease, taking less than what he could. Jooheon licked the sides and went back up to the top, going deeper this time.

"I'm not gonna last..." Minhyuk whined, gripping Jooheon's blonde hair and absolutely messing it up. Jooheon furiously sucked him then, making Minhyuk leave out sounds of pleasure until he came down Jooheon's throat.

"Fuck, it tastes like you and cookies." Jooheon admitted, sitting up and wiping at his mouth. Minhyuk highly doubted that, but he was too blissed out to refute that statement.

"Lettme catch my breath." Minhyuk mutters. Jooheon sits up and begins to jerk his sensitive cock to the sight of a fucked-out Minhyuk. He soon comes all over Minhyuk's torso, but since he's in a rut, his cock does nothing but stay hard. What no one realizes is that this shit is borderline painful, and he needs to pop a knot soon so that everything can calm down.

"Your spunk is all over me." Minhyuk states bluntly. Jooheon doesn't have a filter sometimes.

"Want it to be in you. Shit, wanna fill your fine ass up with my seed, breed you with my pups. You'd like that wouldn't you? Carrying my seed in you, making you all fat with it. Fucking you everyday. Yeah?" Jooheon murmurs, rubbing his spunk across Minhyuk's stomach and chest. Minhyuk whines, and his face heats up.

"Jeez, you are such a _perv!"_ Minhyuk exclaims, slapping Jooheon's hand away. They're both laughing though.

"I hate to put it like this...but I need to pop a knot." Jooheon says. Minhyuk nods.

"You don't need lube...there's slick." Minhyuk says, turning his head away from Jooheon.

"Flip on your stomach." Jooheon says. He enjoys every moment of this, but for them to face each other through this would be way too much. Jooheon leaves light kisses down Minhyuk's back. Minhyuk arches up into them, and he sighs in contentment. Jooheon gives a hard bite to Minhyuk's shoulder, and the man loosens up enough for Jooheon to slip inside. Jooheon literally has to control his breathing just so he doesn't come. Minhyuk is no better beneath him. Pleasure and pain are blurred as Jooheon snaps his hips up and sets a brutal pace. Even all those years ago, Jooheon didn't fuck like this. Minhyuk has to remind himself that while things about Jooheon stayed the same, the man did grow up after all.

"Shit, you're so tight. Years of never letting anyone else touch you would do that wouldn't it?" Jooheon whispers in his ear. Who the hell knew Jooheon loved dirty talk this much?

"You're so full of shit. You have no idea if I ever let anyone else fuck, idiot." Minhyuk spit back, albeit his words were choppy because of how hard Jooheon was thrusting. Minhyuk seriously feared the state of his bed. It was rocking and creaking with every thrust, and most of the pillows (if not all, Minhyuk is facing the wall) fell to the floor. 

_I bet the only time your hole's been fucked was when you presented._

Hyoseob's words swam through his head and he began to panic. He was dead, he couldn't do anything, he couldn't-

"Hey, you're shaking a lot. Are you okay?" Jooheon asks, heaving the both of them up in a siting position. Jooheon's cock was still nested firmly in Minhyuk's ass, but he abruptly stopped his assault and Minhyuk put his head back on Jooheon's shoulder.

"Just thinking about...about things...Hyoseob said..." Minhyuk says quietly, breathing deeply throughout the sentence. Jooheon was rubbing his arms, but his hands came and squeezed his biceps.

"Don't think about that disgusting bastard. I'm the one fucking you. It's  _me_ and  _me only._ No one could do it as well as I could. No one. Focus on me." Jooheon says in Minhyuk's ear earning shivers from the black-haired male in his lap. Jooheon pushed them both on their sides, and he grabbed one of Minhyuk's legs, spreading them apart and pistoning inside of him again. He needed to go deeper; Minhyuk needed to forget. Jooheon wasn't stupid. He knew Minhyuk didn't tell him everything. 

Minhyuk was crying out to someone who was a higher being, Jesus, Jooheon was fucking him to oblivion. His cock kept hitting his prostate in  _just_ the right spot. There was no  _way_ he'd wake up the next day and his ass wouldn't be sore. He was crying, he could feel the tear tracks being made down his face. He could see how blurry his vision was. Jooheon didn't let up on the dirty talk, he egged it on, he was egging them both on to completion. And if Jooheon didn't make this the best orgasm he's ever had in his life...he just might kill the guy.

"A-A-Ah! J-Jooheon, please-please, oh god, please no-" Minhyuk babbled. That was all he was good for, babbling like a baby. Jooheon had him reduced to slurred speech while the proud bastard could still talk circles around him.

"Please what? You want me to knot this tight ass, huh? You want me to fill you up real good, don't you? You cumslut, you  _want it._ I'm not gonna lie, I'm so glad you were an omega. Would have been harder to convince you to let me pound you until you cried if you were an alpha. I would have done it though, whatever caste you fit in. This ass right here? At the end of the day, it would have been  _mine."_ Minhyuk screams out because  _damn_ Jooheon was right. He would have bent over for Jooheon whether he presented as an alpha, beta, or omega. It wouldn't have mattered. They both knew their feelings ran deeper than friends, it just took biology and maybe God to push them on to realize this.

"I'm gonna! I'm so close! Ah, fuck!" Minhyuk yelled. Sweat was everywhere and he had flexed the fuck out of his feet that they were kind of sore. 

_mate, mate, mate!_

Minhyuk's thoughts were so incoherent right now. He babbled, he moaned, he swore like a sailor.

"Yours! Yours, I swear to God, I'm yours!" Minhyuk yelled, hoping that Jooheon heard. Jooheon smirked and laughed loudly. It sounded sort of sadistic.

"Fuck yeah, you're _mine._ " Jooheon said, groaning. He could feel his knot swelling. Minhyuk was glad they didn't wear a condom. There was  _nothing_ like the feeling of a tight knot. Jooheon slowed his pace to accomadate for the knot. Jooheon pulled out until his knot caught onto Minhyuk's rim, and Minhyuk leaned to the side, exposing his neck impuslively. Jooheon said a prayer and ducked down, sinking his teeth in that smooth neck. Minhyuk couldn't help it, he came in thick white spurts on his bed, seeing stars. He felt Jooheon move, and suddenly, he could feel warm seed fill him up. He moaned brokenly at the feeling. He could feel it dripping out of his hole.

"Oh god..." Minhyuk cursed, relaxing his body. Jooheon removed his canines from Minhyuk's neck, and sighed. He was almost boneless, but Jooheon used his last ounce of energy to pull Minhyuk closer to him.

"Bite my neck, idiot." Jooheon whispers. Minhyuk sits up and looks at him, like really  _looks_ at him. Jooheon looks utterly blissed out, and when he gives Minhyuk a smile, blood rests on his teeth, staining his canines. Minhyuk finds the spot he wants to mark, and bites down hard. Jooheon groans loudly, and he twitches. Both of them come again, and Minhyuk cries even more. This was pleasure and torture. He was sure his cock was going to fall off after this. He figured Jooheon was no better, maybe even worse.

"Fuck. What did we just do." Minhyuk said more than asked, a twinge of panic in his voice.

"We mated." Jooheon says, stating the truth. Minhyuk thought he would feel  _wrong_ after that, but he feels anything but that. He feels  _right._ He's unsure on what that means.

"Quit thinking that hard after you just had mindblowing sex." Jooheon says, slipping his knot out of Minhyuk. It makes a wet  _pop_  sound, and Minhyuk whines at the loss. 

"Shit. I'm tired as fuck. We need to be cleaned up, there's blood, sweat, and spunk everywhere." Jooheon says, reluctantly rolling out of bed. He pops his back and rolls his shoulders walking into Minhyuk's bathroom. He came back with a rag and cleaned them both up. He threw the rag on the ground afterwards, and if Minhyuk wasn't so tired, he would have clocked the idiot on the head.

They both curled under the covers, enjoying each other's warmth. They would think about the conesquences in the morning.

   


  


||

  


   


Minhyuk stared at the bite mark with growning curiousity. It tingled whenever he touched it, and althought it wasn't bleeding anymore, once he cleaned it the marks were red and angry still. Minhyuk isn't gonna lie, that bite hurt like a bitch. Jooheon was still asleep, rolling around in his bed. They said a lot of things last night. Minhyuk sighed. Even though his whole body felt like hell, he knew he needed to finish the arrangements for Yeung's funeral. Minhyuk was going to make it a public affair where hopefully Chunja would come out of the woodwork.

Minhyuk hoped to have the funeral by the end of this week if everything went according to plan. Minhyuk toweled his wet hair. Even though Jooheon rubbed him down (which was cute his traiderous brain thought), he still needed to take a shower. Fuck, his whole room smelled like sex and his sheets were filthy. If he and Jooheon ever tried to go at it again (his heart was full of hope...he seriously needed new organs), then they needed to do it on like...the wall or something. They legitimately fucked like animals. Then he thought about the state of his bed. Screws probably needed tightening up. Shit, if Jooheon was here he was gonna do it. It was the least he could do for borderline ruining the quality of his bed. 

When Minhyuk padded out of the bathroom, Jooheon was rising, looking around the room in a confused manner. It sent shocks straight to Minhyuk's heart. Jooheon was stll adorable.

"Shit. I need a shower." Minhyuk laughed, walking to sit down on the bed. Jooheon turned to look at him.

"We mated." Jooheon states. Minhyuk nods.

"Yep." There were no takebacks with mating bites unless you wanted consequences and pain. It was possible to break the bond of a mating bite, but it hurt both parties tremendously.

"Are you okay?" Jooheon asks. Minhyuk shoots up, his towel falling off of him. He could care less.

"We come from different lives! We fucked just because we had a feeling...we weren't thinking when we mated. We were just in the moment, and now we cannot take that back." Jooheon scoffed.

"If I remember correctly, it was your hypocritcal ass telling me to feel and not think." That was true.

"Why did you  _listen_ to me?" Minhyuk asked hysterically.

"Because I was thinking the same thing. Do you get it? You're not just some fuck I used in a rut. I actually like you, always have since high school." Jooheon admits, putting his head down. Minhyuk knew the words on his tongue would make him a complete ass, but they needed to be said. With both of their careers, there was no way they could be together. Minhyuk needed protection, and Jooheon could offer him that, but beyond that...they couldn't exist.

"Jooheon. I've liked you since then too." Minhyuk starts.

"Then what's the problem?" Jooheon asks, putting his hands on his hips. Jooheon's standing facing Minhyuk on the other side of the bed. Minhyuk crosses his arms and rubs them up and down.

"I'm a lawyer. You're someone who breaks the law daily. We can't do this...not like this. It'll just end up in disaster." Jooheon bit his lip and gave a dry chuckle.

"You're just scared, is all. You've always been pussy to your feelings. Some things don't change." Minhyuk leveld him with a stare.

"Are you serious right now? I'm a fucking lawyer Jooheon! If anyone were to find out that we were a thing let alone  _mates,_ that would ruin my career! I don't know what shithole you got yourself in during college, but I worked hard for my job. I'm not going to lose it based on feelings." Jooheon laughed. It wasn't happy.

"Oh, fuck  _you!_ You had it so perfect, you have great friends, a good ass career and I'm just the bum who does illegal things, huh? I can't have feelings? I can't be happy, actually have  _someone_?  _Fuck you."_ Jooheon spits out, walking to Minhyuk's bathroom and slamming the door. Minhyuk plopped back on his bed and sighed. He seriously needed to find out what happened to Jooheon in college. Maybe that would put all the pieces together as to why he even joined OB.

   


  


||

  


   


"Oh my god, all of that happened?" Hoseok asked, coughing over his tea. Minhyuk had called Hoseok up after Jooheon had let himself out a few hours ago. Jooheon didn't even say anything to Minhyuk, just gave him a pitiful stare and walked out the door. 

"Yes, Hoseok. It did." Minhyuk couldn't ignore the tingling of his bite mark. He was pretty sure Jooheon felt the same thing.

"I can't believe you and him are  _mates._ Seriously, Hyungwon's gonna have a field day with this." Minhyuk wasn't sure if he could tell Hoseok about Jooheon's involvement with OB, so he kept that to himself.

"Of course you'd go and tell him everything." Minhyuk mumbled, sipping more of his tea. Hoseok laughed.

"It took us three years before we mated. You guys did it in one night over years of repressed feelings." Minhyuk knew Hoseok was teasing him. He'd get the other back some other time. 

"I need you to tell me something. What happened to Jooheon during college? How bad was it? He told me last night when he was over here that college didn't go well for him." Hoseok eyed him.

"Shit...I'm not supposed to say anything. Don't let Jooheon or Hyungwon know that I told you this." Hoseok said, sighing. Minhyuk shook his head.

"Jooheon was going to college to be an engineer for music. He was in the underground rap scene, and things were going well. He had a boyfriend at the time, his name was Gunhoe. He and Gunhoe were going steady; I thought for a slight moment that he had finally gotten over you." Minhyuk couldn't act like that didn't hit him where it hurt.

"Jooheon hadn't told his parents that he was gay yet, but he figured that since he could proudly say he loved Gunhoe, he could buck up and tell them. When he did...they said hurtful things. They shunned him and pulled the plug on all his finances. His parents had completely ghosted him, and he had no money, no way to pay for college; nothing. He moved in with Gunhoe and he planned to finish his last year of college, but their relationship was becoming strained. Gunhoe started to see Jooheon as a freeloader while Jooheon saw Gunhoe as a complete asshole." Minhyuk could feel the tears running down his face. His parents were accepting, thank God. He never gave it a thought that Jooheon's could be any different.

"He and Gunhoe broke up after dating for two years. He finished his last term in college, got his associate's degree, and never went back. It's sad because Jooheon was planning to get a bachelor's degree. This is where Hyungwon comes in. He and Hyungwon became friends because of the job they both had working for the college radio. When Hyungwon heard about Jooheon's predicament, he offered to house him. After some time, I began to date Hyungwon and I didn't realize Jooheon was his friend. I hadn't seen him since high school, so it was shocking." Hoseok, Minhyuk, and Jooheon all went to the same high school with each other. While Hoseok wasn't as close with them back then, he and Minhyuk got closer after high school.

"Jooheon abruptly told Hyungwon he was moving out because he got a promising job, and he hasn't lived with Hyungwon since. He seems to be doing well for himself, but Jooheon was really talented. It's heartbreaking to know he couldn't pursue his dream because his parents couldn't deal with the fact that he wasn't going to date a girl." Hoseok said, taking a sip of tea while shaking his head.

Minhyuk understood it all now. Jooheon had it  _way_ harder than he had. Jooheon basically built himself back up from the ground after dealing with that shitty situation. Jooheon probably didn't even  _want_ to join OB, but he had no where else to go. Minhyuk felt regret mixed with worry. Minhyuk wasn't wrong: mating with Jooheon was dangerous. Minhyuk very well could lose his job over that, and his reputation would be tarnished. Everyone would reduce Minhyuk to the omega they wanted him to be. Minhyuk worked too damn hard to be reduced to that. But he couldn't lie; he liked (dare he say love?) Jooheon. Yes, Jooheon acted like an ass and he had a big mouth. But he was loyal; he cared so much for people.

"That's the worst thing I've ever heard." Minhyuk said. He needed to see if they could figure out a way around this. He wanted to be there for Jooheon, lord knows not many people were.

   


||

  


   


Jooheon crashed on his bed, sighing. He was currently at the OB household, the place where the higher-ups would stay at. It was a big house surrounded by smaller duplexes that housed other OB members. The bite mark on his neck tingled. He wished the damn thing would stop, but he knew it wasn't going to. Changkyun knocked on his door.

"What's up with you? Why do you look like you got your heart ripped out, dude?" Changkyun asked. Jooheon groaned.

"That's exactly what fucking happened." Changkyun was an alpha just like him, and when Jooheon joined OB, he and the younger boy got along well. Changkyun had been in the faction two years before Jooheon, but that was due to the fact that his brother had joined. Changkyun's brother passed away by the hands of a Seo-bang member, and when OB asked if Changkyun wanted to stay, he readily agreed.

"You'll spill about that later. We've got time before Hyunwoo sends us out on another patrol. He's really upset with you for how you handled that Yang-eun guy, y'know. He says if Yang-eun traces it back to OB, you have to take responsibility for it." Jooheon rolled his eyes.

"I was gonna do that anyway. Why doesn't he just call Kihyun and get laid already? I'm tired of his attitude." Changkyun laughed.

"Kihyun's in Busan doing business with the Chilsungpa gang. Apparently Yakuza fucks have been swamping around there stealing their supply. They want OB's help because Seo-bang isn't gonna do it, and Yang-eun are too difficult to make deals with." Jooheon nods. Seo-bang _wasn't_ going do it; they were above helping people out despite the fact that Chilsungpa could very well burn their whole empire. Chilsungpa (The Seven Star) was the most dominant gang in Busan - the lines between gangs and mafia's blur sometimes. In reality, Chilsungpa was more powerful than Seo-bang. If things kept progressing in the criminal world as they did, all these mafias in Seoul would eventually get absorbed by Chilsungpa. Jooheon didn't know how he felt about that.

"Wait. If the Yakuza are down there...doesn't that mean that there are probably some in Seoul? Even in Daegu or Gwangju? Incheon too?" Changkyun shrugs. 

"No one wants to think that, but if they're bothering Chilsungpa so bad that they have to ask for outer help...then it must be bad. There could very well be Yakuza men down here." Jooheon sighs. He hopes that isn't the case. Korean gangs/mafias and the Yakuza have never gotten along; previous history throughout the years could attest to that. This talk was helping him get his mind off of Minhyuk and he was sort of glad for it.

"Okay. They aren't declairing war or anything?" Changkyun whistles.

"Hell no. That would be so awful, chaos would erupt through the streets." Jooheon nods. "It's just something we need to be careful of."

"I was reckless with Hyoseob, I know." Changkyun crosses his arms.

"You could very well start a damn war with that too, y'know. I had Kihyun look up the man before we left, and he's a character. He has a track record that the police know, but he has an even longer one that they have no clue about. Homeboy affiliated with Yang-eun, but he did undercover work with Ssangyongpa." Jooheon furrowed his eyebrows.

"He worked undercover with the Double Dragons? That gang is located all the way in fucking Gwangju. Wouldn't Yang-eun see the dragon tattoo on his arm and know? Unless the person who let him in was a fucking idiot."

"That was probably the case. The girl he was involved with, Chunja is her name? She's a character as well." Jooheon turned to face Changkyun who had moved to sit beside him on the bed.

"Chunja, she worked in the rings. Before she moved to Seoul, her and family lived in Gwangju. She was also with Ssangyonpa. She worked at a store that was in direct correlation with them. When she came to Seoul with family, they set up another store. Ssangyonpa wanted spies on Seo-bang, and Chunja offered. Think she met Hyoseob way before anyone thought." 

"Minhyuk is so damn ignorant." Jooheon mutters.

"Is that the omega lawyer that took on her case against Hyoseob?" Jooheon nods.

"He's in deep shit. I was at a bar, and some Yang-eun lackeys were there. They were talking about how they were gonna wreck that man's office. They think he was behind the killing of Hyoseob. What those idiots don't know is that Hyoseob's loyalties lied with Ssangyonpa." Jooheon stilled.

"They think he's behind the killing of Hyoseob?" Changkyun nods. Jooheon felt sick.

"Yeah. Chunja fled Seoul probably to head back to Gwangju. Weird thing is she worked in some of our rings for a while. Wonder why? Her and Hyoseob probably went into this whole thing undercover. They must have had a domestic dispute or something so she went behind his back." 

"Or she had her own agenda since day one of moving in Seoul." Jooheon thought aloud. He remembers all the girls calling Chunja cunning. They said she knew how to tell a story. If that was the case, Minhyuk was really an idiot for taking on her case. He would have never known.

"What if I told you I mated that omega lawyer?" Jooheon asked. Changkyun pauses.

"I'd call you a fucking idiot. Jooheon, did you really?" Jooheon nods.

"He broke your heart. He's a lawyer. What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get Hyunwoo to put a bullet between your eyes?" Jooheon sighs.

"You think I don't know? Hyunwoo wouldn't do that; he'd just knock me out real good." Changkyun lays back on the bed next to Jooheon.

"Apparently your... _mate_ is setting up a public funeral for Yeung, Chunja's grandmother. He works with that private detective agency. They're hoping that the public funeral lures Chunja back to Seoul because she'll find out her grandmother is dead. It's been publicized that Hyoseob was the one that did it. They're still trying to find out who killed him, but I got someone to find out that SPD might just leave it alone." Jooheon sits up.

"When is that funeral?" 

"Friday." That was a few days from now.

"Because of all their involvements, that funeral is going to get crashed." Jooheon says. Changkyun snorts.

"Oh you know it. I just hope she gets buried before shots start going off. That'd be a mess if she wasn't." Jooheon agrees with that. There's gotta be a level of respect.

"I don't regret killing him. I regret all the consequences that are gonna come from that." Jooheon says.

"What did he even do to make you kill him like that? Dude, that was brutal." 

"He fucked with my mate." Changkyun nods.

"Noted. You need to have a talk with Hyunwoo." Jooheon stands up and stretches out his limbs. The bite mark still tingles, but it's dull now.

"Alright. Wish me luck." Changkyun salutes him.

"Good luck second-in-command!"

   


||

  


   


"What the absolute fuck were you thinking?" Hyunwoo belts out. Jooheon doesn't say anything. Hyunwoo pierces him with a look of dissapointment. In all the time Jooheon's been in OB, Hyunwoo was like an older brother to him. This feels more like a scolding than anything.

"Do you understand that what one faction does, it affects this whole world? You should have done your research on this guy, see exactly who the fuck he was affiliated with before you blindly killed him in rage! Why'd you do it?" Hyunwoo asked, clearly pissed.

"He made threats to my mate. He was going to do unimaginable things to them, so I killed him. That simple." Jooheon stated coldly. Hyunwoo sat back in his seat. They were in Hyunwoo's office and while Jooheon was an alpha himself, Hyunwoo's scent always overpowered his and forced him to submit much to his chargin. He wondered did that just come with being an alpha over time.

"Mate, huh? Then I guess you weren't thinking." 

"You'd do the same thing if not more if someone threatened Kihyun." Hyunwoo sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You're not wrong. Who's your mate anyway?" Jooheon tapped his foot and looked around.

"Lee Minhyuk." Hyunwoo put both hands on his desk.

"Please, Jooheon. I know you get into a lot of shit, but please tell me that isn't the infamous  _omega lawyer?"_ Jooheon doesn't say anything, and that alone was enough of an answer for Hyunwoo.

"Oh my god, how did this happen?"

"We've known each other for years, since high school. It was before I even thought about joining OB and he thought about being a lawyer. I helped him through his presenting. We've loved each other since. Changkyun and I were patrolling the area when I saw him. He was holding Yeung in his arms, and she was dead. Hyoseob came out from a hiding spot over to Minhyuk, and because of where he was Changkyun and I knew he was the one who took the shot that killed her. He was threatning Minhyuk, I could see he was scared. I know who Hyoseob is because I saw him after we set up that raid of one of the Yang-eun safehouses."

"Jooheon. You understand the severity of this, correct? Hyoseob on the surface seems like he's loyal to Yang-eun, but we all know he comes from Ssangyonpa. That's two right there. Kihyun's making this deal with Chilsungpa, but everyone knows how messy they are. They're gonna catch wind of this and use it against us as yet another reason as to why we should absorb with them. Because of these two individuals Hyoseob and Chunja, they're shaking the whole crime world of South Korea and barely anyone knows why." Jooheon nods.

"I have to protect him. Yang-eun men want to hurt him and destroy his practice." 

"Love truly  _is_ blind." Hyunwoo said. "You have to protect yourself. I can only do so much. I am the leader of OB, I can't get out much. That's why you're my second-in-command; you do the deals on the outside. Because of your dumbass act, we need protection. We're going to have to ask for help."

"But from who? OB barely asks for help!"

"From Bukmoonpa." Jooheon scoffs.

"The Northern Gate gang? Why are you going to Suwon for help?" Hyunwoo narrows his eyes at Jooheon.

"We can't ask Chilsungpa because they want help from  _us._ Seo-bang and Yang-eun are out of the question and so is Ssangyonpa. You have any other ideas, especially when word is spoken about the Yakuza of all damn people hiding in Korea?" Jooheon shut up. Hyunwoo was right, they were their last hope.

"Word is also going around that Friday is the day shit is going down. It's the funeral of Yeung which I'm pretty sure you know, and so many people want their hands on Chunja. They also want their hands on Minhyuk, they think he knows things Chunja hasn't told anyone. She did actively seek him out to put Hyoseob on trial." 

"They're not getting him." Jooheon says determined.

"Take care of your mate, but know your place. You work for a mafia, a gang. You cannot forget that." Hyunwoo said, leaning up to look at Jooheon.

"I haven't forgotten." Jooheon says lowly.

  


||

  


"Minhyuk, you can't go to that funeral Friday." Seungcheol says. Minhyuk furrows his eyebrows.

"Why not?" He asks. Jeonghan and Hansol sit down across from Minhyuk. Minhyuk couldn't go back into work, (Hoseok  _still_ put his foot down about that) so he decided to call Jeonghan up and tag along with him to their agency.

"Seungkwan was our intel, and he's catching wind that there's gonna be an all out brawl at that funeral between various gangs. You can't go." Minhyuk scoffs.

"If you think that's gonna stop me, you're crazy." Hansol cringed. His coffee was hot.

"You should take this seriously. Apparently various groups are gonna be there all claiming to have relation to Yeung in some way. This funeral is public and while I get the appeal, this'll go south very fast." Minhyuk sighed. He hadn't heard from Jooheon and while he's glad for that, the mating bond isn't. He's been feeling lethargic and needy. He can only imagine Jooheon feels the same way.

"What the hell happened between Hyoseob and Chunja anyway? It's like both of them have just pushed everything off balance?" Minhyuk asks. He only knows the surface; and it wasn't enough to incriminate Hyoseob.

"From what I've gathered, they were involved with more than one group. Hyoseob made his mark more publically in the criminal word while Chunja made hers discretly. Looking through her medical records, she had visited an ob/gyn a week before the trial. You think she was pregnant with Hyoseob's child?" Seungcheol offers from the back of the room. Minhyuk grimaced.

"If she has a child...that causes so many complications. Especially if Hyoseob was abusive." 

"That child will be a product of traiderous parents. There's no way groups are going to want that baby alive." Jeonghan said, flipping through a newspaper. "The only group that might take that baby in would be OB." Minhyuk thinks on what Jooheon told him.

"Wait. Do you think that's why she started working in the OB rings? Because she had a feeling that she could be pregant, and she needed to get in good with that faction so that she could trust they would take her child in?" Minhyuk asks.

"That's a solid theory. Hyoseob didn't like that fact, beat her, she presses charges. Maybe she could get some type of benifits to help her and her child out." Hansol says.

"Friday is going to be a day." Minhyuk murmurs. "Jeonghan, I need you to drive me to my office." Jeonghan eyed him.

"Hoseok practically threatened me not to take you there." Jeonghan said, still flipping through his newspaper. 

"Please? I just need to get a box of files, that's it. You can take me home after that and Hoseok will never even know." Seungcheol laughed.

"Just swing him by, babe." Jeonghan eyes Seungcheol.

"Since you wanna talk, why don't  _you_ swing him over there?" Seungcheol looked around.

"I have work to do." Jeonghan scoffed.

"As if I don't? Y'know what- I'm taking your Chevy." Seungcheol pouted.

"Take your own car!" He shouted. Hansol and Minhyuk were laughing in the background.

"No, since you want to put the responsiblilty on me!" Jeonghan snatched Seungcheol's keys from his desk, and tugged on Minhyuk's arm.

"Bye, honey!" Jeonghan called out sweetly. Hansol followed behind them, giggling and pointing at a mildly pissed Seungcheol.

  


||

  


   


Minhyuk's office was in the more populated part of town, and that was a plus when omegas needed to look for a lawyer. Minhyuk knows that he's gotten calls in the short time he hasn't been on the job. He really wants to go back, but this funeral needed to be his top priority right now. Jeonghan parked Seungcheol's Chevy in the parking lot, and they all stepped out of the car. Minhyuk pulled out his keys, unlocks the door, and steps inside.

He screams. Jeonghan and Hansol whip out their guns.

"What?" Jeonghan yells, coming around the corner with his gun up. Hansol was right behind him.

"What's going...on" Jeonghan asks, lowering his gun and looking around. Minhyuk's practice was trashed. Cabinets and file drawers were knocked down, his desk was flipped over, and his windows were broken. 

"Why? Who would  _do this?"_ Minhyuk asked, tears threatning to spill. It took Minhyuk two years to make his practice what it was, and someone came and destroyed it all. His mind went to Jooheon, but he dismissed it. Jooheon might be angry with him, but this isn't something he would do. Hansol walked around and began looking.

"Uh, guys? Take a look at this." Hansol said, holding up a piece of paper. Jeonghan and Minhyuk quickly walked over to Hansol, and Minhyuk took the paper out of his hands.

  


**_AN EYE FOR AN EYE -_ 양은**

  


"What kind of cryptic bullshit is _this?_ " Minhyuk screamed, practically burning holes into the paper. An eye for an eye? Minhyuk hadn't hurt anybody!

"That hangul says Yang-eun. They were behind this." Hansol says, shaking his head. "If they're taking hits like this, I don't know if everyone's gonna wait until Friday to fight." Minhyuk wanted to cry, he wanted someone to hold him.

"Just...fuck I'm going to have to pay for all of my shit to be fixed. I'm gonna have to do this all over again." Minhyuk said. "Let me see if this file box is still here." Minhyuk rummaged around the room and sure enough, it was there. The box had been kicked in, but it was still there. Minhyuk picked it up and sighed.

"Take me home." Minhyuk said. Jeonghan nodded and dropped him off. 

"We're gonna get to the bottom of this. It's top priority." Jeonghan told Minhyuk. Minhyuk nodded and walked into his apartment, setting the box on his kitchen table.

"You got raided." A voice says. Minhyuk spins around because he  _knows_ that voice and sure enough, Jooheon is on his couch.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Minhyuk asks, his heart beating a mile a minute. 

"I can pick a lock. Anyways, Yang-eun raided you. They did it to send a message; you need to back out of affairs that don't concern you. They think you had something to do with the killing of Hyoseob because Chunja was your client." Minhyuk went pale.

"I-I didn't kill him! You did!" Minhyuk yells.

"I'm very aware of that, don't tell the  _neighbors."_ Jooheon spits. "I'm here to install some things into your home. You need to go to a safe house until Friday, and luckily for you, your mate has one." Minhyuk furrows his eyebrows.

"I have friends here, and even though my practice is ruined at the moment, I still have a job. How am I just gonna go to a safe house?"

"You ever take a break for yourself? Anything like that?" Minhyuk thought. Did he?

"You took too long to answer, so no." Jooheon says after a minute. "Tell them you're gonna go out and clear your head and that you'll be back by Friday. Assure them you're safe, because one thing is certain: we're both leaving this apartment together today." Jooheon said, leveling Minhyuk with a stare. Jooheon could offer him protection from all of this. Minhyuk sighs and whips out his phone. He opens it and sees he has a new message from an unknown number. He looks at his phone confused.

"What?" Jooheon asks, noticing the look on Minhyuk's face.

"I just got a text from an number I don't know." Jooheon came behind Minhyuk. 

"Open it." Jooheon says. Minhyuk does, and he gasps at the message.

  


_Please call this number when you get the chance. It's Chunja. We need to talk._

  


"She messaged me? Then I obviously need to call her back!" Jooheon whistled.

"Woah there, tiger. You call when you're at the safe house, alright? If it's a trap, I need to know, and you need to be far away from a location anyone would suspect you to be at." Minhyuk nods.

"How did you know I got raided?" He asks. 

"I've known for a minute. I couldn't pinpoint when it was going to happen, but I figured out it was today because I walked by your practice on a patrol and saw the windows were broken. I made a dash to your apartment, picked the lock, and prayed that you would show up. If someone else showed up instead of you...then I was going to get some answers." Minhyuk hates what that tone does to his body, but he shivered nonetheless.

"My bite doesn't tingle anymore? You think the bond is fading?" Jooheon asks in the air. Minhyuk was filled with dread. He didn't  _want_ the bond to break. Yes, being mates is highly inconvient, but he doesn't want to lose it.

"I...hope not." Minhyuk whispers. He hopes Jooheon didn't hear him but if he did, he doesn't say anything. Jooheon shoots up and cracks his knuckles.

"Pack a light bag. My bike is outside." Minhyuk frowns.

"You ride a motorcycle? How  _fitting."_ Jooheon rolls his eyes as Minhyuk pulls out a backpack from his closet and stuffs various things into it. Once he's done with that, he walks to his kitchen table and sifts through the file box, trying to pick out the most important files. He shoves those in his bag, too. He pushes his keys into his pocket and slings his backpack over his back.

"I'm ready." Jooheon pulls small black devices from his pocket.

"Let me put these around your house and then we can go." Jooheon makes quick work of putting them in every part of Minhyuk's apartment.

"Those are cameras with built-in mics. If anyone comes to your apartment while you're gone, we'll see who it is." Jooheon explains. They both walk out of the apartment, and Jooheon hops on his motorcycle. He tosses a hat to Minhyuk.

"Get on." He simply says, cranking the motorcycle to life. Minhyuk just stares at the contraption. Why couldn't Jooheon bring a  _car?_

"Um, alright." Minhyuk croaks out, putting the helmet over his head and sliding behind Jooheon.

"Despite how cliche this whole thing is, wrap your arms around my waist. You'll feel better that way." Jooheon says.

"Fuck cliche, I was gonna do that  _anyway."_ Minhyuk says. Jooheon barks a laugh and speeds out of Minhyuk's apartment complex, taking a back road. Minhyuk wraps his arms tight around Jooheon's figure and closes his eyes. If he thinks hard enough, he can imagine that he and Jooheon are going out somewhere, that they're happily in love, and that they didn't have any problems. He wishes that was the case, but life just didn't work out that way.

"You okay back there?" Jooheon asks, zooming down the winding roads. 

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." Minhyuk responds. After a while, Jooheon drives in front of a small house, and swervs his bike into the garage.

"Welcome to the safe house. Just walk through that door and make yourself at home." 

Minhyuk nods at Jooheon and walks through the door that's at the back of the garage. When he steps into the home, he sees it's really nice. It seems as if no one even lives here. The set-up is modern yet cozy, and Minhyuk feels uncertain. He and Jooheon were mates alone in a house. With the way he's feeling, anything could happen. He swears to god if he and Jooheon have sex again, he's just going to slap himself.

"Jooheon, is that you?" A voice says. Minhyuk stills. Jooheon hadn't come back from the garage yet, and he had no idea who that was. Minhyuk ducked behind the island in the kitchen. He feels the acid burn of dissapointment deep in his gut. Even though he was talking shit on he and Jooheon being alone in this house, he knew he wanted it to be that way. Seems as if they had a third party. A door opens, and Minhyuk sees black combat boots.

"Yeah, It's me." Jooheon calls back. He glances down at the ground and sees Minhyuk. 

"Why are you hiding behind the island?" Jooheon questions. Minhyuk stands up and rolls his eyes.

"Cause I have no idea who that person is!" Jooheon smirks.

"Smart." Minhyuk's face was passive, but inside he purred in contentment at Jooheon's subtle praise. A man with red hair stepped out from the living room. 

"Kihyun you're back? Shouldn't you and Hyunwoo be doing, I don't know, the  _dirtiest shit ever?"_ Jooheon jokes. Kihyun blows air out from his nose.

"Shut up. Just because Hyunwoo is like your brother doesn't mean you can make jokes like that. Besides, aren't you wondering why I'm here?"

"Partially. Did something happen in Busan?" Minhyuk stepped back and inspected the kitchen. He smelled beta on Kihyun. He didn't know what they were talking about, and Minhyuk thinks it's best if he doesn't get involved. 

"That Chilsungpa member I'm cool with, Min Yoongi, y'know? He just set OB up with the best deal." Jooheon nods.

"Tell me more."

"We help them in exchange of them leaving OB alone. We don't have to absorb with them; we make an alliance. Chilsungpa already has a game plan to absorb both Seo-bang and Yang-eun and lettme tell you, it's gold." Jooheon gasps.

"Seriously?" Kihyun nods excitedly.

"We won't have to keel over. We'll have support." Jooheon whoops.

"Is that all?" 

"Yakuza is everywhere in Busan, man. Yoongi caught three spying on us at one point. Heaven knows why they're in Korea. Shit, they might be pestering gangs in China, too." Jooheon frowned.

"What does that mean?" Kihyun sighed.

"It means we have to stay on alert. Chilsungpa is a strong player in this game, and the Yakuza takes notice. the Jumok gang in Incheon had one of their safe houses filled with supply ransacked by the Yakuza a few days ago." Jooheon whistles low.

"Alright. Are we sending men to Busan?"

"Yeah, we'll start sending men out after this funeral Friday." Jooheon nods.

"I'm gonna head out, now. Your mate is adorable." Kihyun says, waving as he walks out the front door.

"How did he know we were mates?" Minhyuk asks once Kihyun leaves.

"I had to tell my superior. He's not gonna harm you; no one in OB is." Jooheon says calmly. Minhyuk nods and walks to the couch, plopping down on it. Jooheon sits down beside him.

"Tell me about Chunja working at your rings." Minhyuk says. Jooheon furrows his eyebrows. That question came out of nowhere.

"...Alright. She came to work a few months before you case. She was good; but people thought she was too secretive. They felt she wasn't on the up and up. Then, a month before your trial, she just stops coming into work. Everyone's confused as to why, but no one has contact with her to find out. Then we see you representing her in court against Hyoseob, and everyone's genuinely confused. People in OB called her a traitor, but I had to set the record straight. I had no idea what she was. It wasn't like OB brought her in, anyway, but she did try to make friendly with the girls she worked with."

"Who'd she work with?"

"She worked with four other girls: Bora, Hyolyn, Soyou, and Dasom." 

"Do you think we could talk with them?" Jooheon shakes his head.

"You're supposed to be relaxing at this safe house, not doing your _lawyer work._ " Minhyuk rolls his eyes.

"I just want to know the truth like everyone else. Why did this all blow out of proportion?"

"I think it attributes to the fact that both Hyoseob and Chunja were a part of more than one group. Their downfalls lead to them being traitors, and groups want to fight because of it." Jooheon says, rubbing his chin. 

"We need to call Chunja." Minhyuk says, whipping out his phone. He finds the number and dials it, putting it on speaker phone. He sets it on the table, and they both wait. After two rings, Chunja picks up.

"I'm glad you called." She says. Her voice is as strong as he heard it the last time, Minhyuk thinks.

"Where are you? What's going on? I told you we could re-try your case on a different notion once I got more information!" Minhyuk exclaims.

"I know." Chunja simply says. "I had to leave. Things are dangerous now, and I have extra baggage."

"What do you mean by extra baggage?" Minhyuk asks, already having an idea while Jooheon sits next to him confused.

"Hyoseob didn't like it." Chunja starts. "He didn't like the fact that he was going to be a...a father. He didn't like that at all." Minhyuk almost screamed in joy. That theory was right!

"Chunja...you're  _pregnant?"_  Minhyuk asks.

"Yes. Yes I am. My grandmother is gone and so is this child's father. I am saddened by Yeung's passing, but I can only thank whoever took Hyoseob's life. I tried to get Hyoseob into the idea, but he refuted me everytime. He beat me, hit me, left me. I had to leave Seoul. I had a duty to myself and my child to leave. I just...I didn't come back in enough time for Yeung." Chunja's voice cracks at the end, and Minhyuk bites his lip. He wants to cry himself.

"Are you coming for the funeral? I planned it. I couldn't let your grandmother just be buried without a service." 

"I'm beyond grateful that you've done that for me, but I don't think I can. I have affiliations with bad people, and they want me now. I have to go. Send her off with love for me, okay?" 

"Where are you at? I can get her creamated and I'll give her to you." Minhyuk thinks of on the spot. Chunja is quiet.

"If you do that...I am in Gwangju." She says after a while. Jooheon leaned back in his seat. That theory was right as well.

"I have to bring my mate, he's an OB member. Are you alright with that? He'll be the only one there, I can promise you that." Chunja sighed.

"Just him, since he is your mate." 

"See you soon, Chunja." Minhyuk says.

"See you soon." The line disconnects, and Minhyuk sinks back into his seat.

"I have to tell the funeral home to cremate the body. How late is it?"

"Too late to do that." Jooheon answers back. 

"I'll do it in the morning." Jooheon instinctively rubs Minhyuk's back, and Minhyuk's too tired and worried to push his hand away.

"You wanna take a bath?" Jooheon offers. Minhyuk nods. Jooheon leaves him on the couch and walks to the back. Minhyuk closes his eyes and drifts off to an uneventful nap. Gentle hands shake him after a while.

"C'mon. The water's ready." Jooheon says. Minhyuk stands up slowly and walks with Jooheon to the bathroom. If he wasn't so damn tired, he might just gasp. It was spacious, and the tub was gigantic. Minhyuk smiled and without thinking, he began to strip. Once he was fully naked, he hopped into the tub and sank into the water, letting out a loud sigh. This felt magical.

"Oh, thank you, Jooheon." Minhyuk says slowly. Jooheon nods.

"I'll be in the living room if you need anything." Minhyuk almost lets him leave before he speaks up.

"Wait! You could...join me if you want. We could save up on water." And if that wasn't the _lamest_ excuse seeing as how big this safehouse was. Jooheon snorted.

"If you want me to." Jooheon stripped as well and came to sit behind Minhyuk. Minhyuk was stiff, but Jooheon began rubbing his shoulders. Minhyuk instantly relaxed into Jooheon's chest. Jooheon leaned down and gave Mihyuk's shoulder a kiss. Minhyuk arched up for more, and Jooheon gave him more. Minhyuk was so hoping Jooheon just went crazy and fucked him in the tub, previous statements aside. Jooheon bit the shell of Minhyuk's ear, and Minhyuk whined.

"We can't be together like this...right? Isn't that what you said?" Jooheon whispers in Minhyuk's ear, rubbing his hand down Minhyuk's torso. Jooheon must have put a bath bomb in the water because it was light pink.

"I s-said th-that." Minhyuk stuttered. Jooheon took his index finger and circled Minhyuk's tip. Minhyuk pushed his hips up, wanting more.

"Why did you invite me in this tub? Do you like fucking with me?" Jooheon asked, licking Minhyuk's bond mark. Minhyuk gave a high-pitched whine and bursts of precome shot out from his cock. They hit the water with a tiny  _splash,_ and Jooheon grinned. It was feral. He went to kissing and licking it, and Minhyuk arched into his touch more and more until Jooheon downright bit the mark. Minhyuk came with Jooheon's name as a whine on his lips. White mixed with light pink in the tub and Minhyuk took deep breaths.

"Sensitive." Jooheon said, pushing down into the mark with his thumb, watching Minhyuk bite his knuckle as his body twitched with oversensitivty. Minhyuk took a minute, Jooheon stroking his shoulders and arms before he turned around and straddled Jooheon's lap.

"Guess it's time for me to return the favor." Minhyuk says, dipping down to suck on Jooheon's bite mark. Jooheon groans loudly, dragging it out, and his hips buck.

"What the  _fuck, Minhyuk..."_ Jooheon moans. Minhyuk is getting courage from hearing Jooheon moan his name like that. He wants to hear it again and again. Minhyuk takes his index finger and presses hard into Jooheon's bite mark.

"Say my name again." Minhyuk outright demands. "Or I won't let you come." Jooheon stared at him wide-eyed as he shivered.

"The omega dominating? Nice turn of events, but I'm not that easy." Minhyuk jabs his finger into Jooheon's bite mark while squeezing Jooheon's balls, and Jooheon sucks in a breath, almost crying out on the spot. Minhyuk's fingers travel lower, and he teases Jooheon's rim.

"Oh-" Jooheon starts, a protest on his lips before Minhyuk swoops in and presses a desperate kiss on Jooheon's lips. Minhyuk slips his tongue inside Jooheon's mouth without warning, and Jooheon is taken aback before Minhyuk slips a finger into Jooheon's hole. Jooheon cries out and pulls back. He arches his back and they both shift so that Minhyuk is bent over Jooheon, shoving his finger in and out. It's not the most comfortable position, but they're making it work. Never in his life did he think Jooheon would submit to him (he was still an  _alpha_ after all), but this was nice.

"Fuck, is this what omegas feel all the time? Why do we have these dumbass sterotypes, this is heaven- deeper, Minnie!" Jooheon shouts. Minhyuk could laugh at Jooheon's words, but he saves it for later. Minhyuk goes faster, slipping in two fingers and he feels a twinge of guilt. Water isn't the best lube, but Minhyuk figured Jooheon was a slight masochist seeing as how he arched into it more and more. Minhyuk pressed a kiss to Jooheon's back in apology. When Minhyuk hit a particular spot, Jooheon gripped the side of the tub and let out one of the most embarassing moans he's ever voiced.

" _Ah! Shit!"_ Jooheon yelled. His face was on fire, and Minhyuk found it cute.

"Are you gonna come, Honey?" Minhyuk asked in a sweet voice. Jooheon nodded, and when Minhyuk bent down to lick Jooheon's bite mark, Jooheon groaned deep and came all over Minhyuk's thighs. Jooheon was shaking, and Minhyuk slowly pulled his fingers out. He and Jooheon shifted so that Minhyuk was behind Jooheon, and Minhyuk could see the way Jooheon's hole fluttered. It made him groan.

"I'm sorry." Minhyuk said to Jooheon.

"What?" Jooheon asks, before Minhyuk puts his hands on Jooheon's hips and hoists the man up so that Jooheon's hole was right in his face. Jooheon didn't think his face could get any redder, but he believes it just did.

"Minhyuk, if you're about to do what I  _think_ you are, will you at least please-" Jooheon didn't even finish his sentence before Minhyuk spread Jooheon's cheeks apart and went to town. Jooheon was pretty sure he screamed like a little girl, but he was past caring at this point. Minhyuk had him bent over, his face slapping the water at some points. Minhyuk slipped is tongue in, and Jooheon could feel tear tracks on his face. Any jokes he made about omegas being submissive bitches went  _completely_ out the window. He felt like the bitch, but he didn't mind one bit. Not when Minhyuk's mouth did  _that._

He came for the second time when Minhyuk gave a little nip with his teeth to his already sensitive rim. Jooheon reached back and grasped Minhyuk's wrist with a shaky hand.

"No more, no more. I can't, not today." Jooheon coughs out. Minhyuk nods, and Jooheon sits up. They wash off and let the water out. Minhyuk and Jooheon dried each other off, and stalked to the bedroom. Minhyuk wrapped a towel around himself and his hair as he walked to the kitchen to grab his backpack. He looks in the fridge (sex makes you hungry) and saw it was stocked full of various things. Jooheon had prepared for this. The tingling sensation was back tenfold, and Minhyuk contributes that to the acts they just did. Minhyuk remembers what he says and gives himself a small slap to the face.

"What are you doing?" Jooheon asks, looking at him with a glint in his eye.

"I said to myself if we had sex again I'd slap myself." Jooheon laughs. "I can't believe you let me do that."

"I can't either." Jooheon says, walking to stand next to Minhyuk. "I know you don't want to be mated to me, but I want to be mated to you. I guess I had to show you that I'm for it. Plus it felt good, you  _kinky dog."_ Jooheon purrs, leaning in to kiss Minhyuk's jaw. Minhyuk stilled.

"You think I don't want to be mated with you?"

"Well after the first time we had sex - not counting The Incident - you kind of said that." Minhyuk looks down at the ground.

"I do want to be mated to you, but everything is just so difficult. I don't know what to do. I've never done anything like this before." Jooheon hugs Minhyuk and presses a kiss to his forehead.

"Even if you stay with me, I won't let my life affect yours. You'll still be a great ass lawyer, and my job won't get in the way of that. I promise." Minhyuk nods into Jooheon's chest. He believed him.

  


||

  


   


The sun peaked through the windows, and Jooheon squinted, sighing. Fuck, he did  _not_ want to wake up. It took him a few seconds to remember all the events of last night, and he sat up. Minhyuk sat up as well and looked at Jooheon.

"It's only 7:30. Lay back down and get some rest." Minhyuk says, his voice quiet. Jooheon thought Minhyuk looked like an angel laying down on the bed like that. Minhyuk turned his way and threaded his hands through Jooheon's hair. Jooheon gave a content sigh and settled as the little spoon between them. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. After a few minutes he sits up and stretches.

"I gotta get up and take care of some things. You can stay here and sleep until you want to get up, alright?" Jooheon says, rubbing his hand up and down Minhyuk's back. Minhyuk nods into his pillow.

"Okay." Minhyuk says, closing his eyes. Jooheon looked at Minhyuk for a second more before leaving the bed to put on some clothes. He slipped on some grey sweats with a green windbreaker zipped up, and white sneakers. He makes his way to the living room slipping on his glasses. Kihyun had texted him at some point last night that he had left the plan for Friday, and the plan Chilsungpa created in the mailbox. Jooheon opened the door, and looked outside. The sky was a vibrant light blue, and there were some clouds in the sky even though it was winter. He could trick himself into thinking this was really his and Minhyuk's house, and that they did this everyday. Jooheon sighs and walks to the mailbox, opening it up and taking out the big envelope.

He closes the door and sits himself at the dining room table, spreading the plans out. Many gangs/mafias were supposed to be at the service on Friday, and Kihyun had drafted a good plan for how to handle that. He had Chilsungpa fighting with Seo-bang and Ssangyonpa while OB fought Yang-eun if things escalated. If Chunja showed up, it was up to OB to get her out of there safely. Chilsungpa would do the dirty work as a favor to OB for helping them out. Jooheon liked it; it was a solid plan. Jooheon wanted to break the nose of a Yang-eun guy or two. They were annoying. Jooheon heard the coffee machine beep and he stood up, making himself one.

"Don't take  _all_ the coffee now." Minhyuk says from behind him. Jooheon turns around and he sees Minhyuk's mess bed hair, his transparent white t-shirt, and black sweats. He had his feet in slides, and Jooheon cooed. Minhyuk really was beautiful. 

"Oh yeah, I made some for you, too. Go ahead." Jooheon said, moving out of the way. Minhyuk fixed himself a cup and sat down at the table with Jooheon who was still reviewing the plans.

"What's that?" Minhyuk asked.

"The agenda for Friday. It's solid, but there's the big fact that neither you or I are going to be there." Minhyuk nods.

"I need to call the funeral home. I might have to go down there." Jooheon frowns.

"I'll go down there. You stay in this house. Protection." Minhyuk rolls his eyes and sips his coffee.

"Alright,  _dad."_ Jooheon snorted.

"We need to have the funeral and make it look like she's in the casket, but she's not." Jooheon says, shuffling through papers.

"Just make it a closed casket service. Say because no immediate family is here, the body won't be shown." Minhyuk offers. 

"We have two days counting today until Friday. We gotta get that body cremated today (hopefully), leave Seoul tomorrow and be in Gwangju by Friday or earlier." 

"You're going against OB coming with me. You gonna tell them?" Jooheon shook his head.

"They'll understand." Jooheon states, leaving it at that. Jooheon's phone began to ring, and he answered it quickly. He talked lowly, and Minhyuk was aware Jooheon didn't want him to hear. Secrets were okay with him if it involved anything with OB's affairs. He'd be better off not knowning.

"I have to go out. Watch TV, do whatever. Just stay safe, okay?" Jooheon announced, standing up and grabbing his keys. "I'll be back before it gets dark." Minhyuk stands up and stretches.

"I'll probably cook something, you've got a lot of things in that fridge. Hosoek can suck it; I can cook when I want to." Jooheon chuckled at that pulling Minhyuk in for a hug.

"See you later." Jooheon said, walking through the garage door.

"Bye!" Minhyuk says, shutting the door. Jooheon smiles to himself as he speeds out of the driveway of the safe house.

  


||

  


   


"We got the guys who trashed Minhyuk's practice. They're in the basement." Changkyun says. "Hyunwoo said he'd leave it up to you to decide their punishment." Kihyun was right beside Changkyun.

"What are you gonna do?" Kihyun asks.

"Don't know yet." Jooheon answers, briskly walking to the basement. He walked down the steps of the basement slowly, three guys coming into view. They looked ragged and sad; Jooheon almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

"So you were the ones...that decided to cross me." Jooheon says. He can tell the guys are confused.

"We never  _crossed you,_ we just fucked with that omega lawyer who can't stay in their own lane." One says, looking down at the ground.

"What does he have to do with you? You want his tight ass, too?" The second one says, giving a primal smirk to Jooheon. It's been said many times that Jooheon can be an asshole; he makes jokes in poor taste sometimes. But he'd  _never_ hint at innuendos like that. Ever. Jooheon had to will his canines to stay normal. His nails threatened to get longer too, but he forced the urge down. This is how he felt killing Hyoseob. The things that man said about Minhyuk before Jooheon slashed him silly is something Jooheon will never forget.

"It's not nice to talk about another man's mate like that." Jooheon says lightly, walking around the room. The third guy's eyes widen.

"You're mated to that  _whore?"_ He spits. Jooheon walks over to him and squeezes his face in his hands.

"Don't you  _ever_ speak on him like that again, do you hear me? I'm not nice when I'm pissed. Why do you think I'm in the position I'm in now? I deal with idiots like you quickly, quietly, and no one will look for you when you're gone." Changkyun and Kihyun stood in the back, and Hyunwoo had joined them some time afterwards.

"Changkyun. Hand me my glock." Jooheon orders, holding his hand out. All three men began to beg. Jooheon let them, he wanted them to get it out of their system.

"Shut up!" Jooheon shouted. All three men instantly quieted down. Jooheon couldn't hear any of them breathe. 

"I'm debating if I should kill you right now or beat you for dead and let you crawl back to Yang-eun territory. I bet you  _forgot_ that over where my mate's office is....that's OB territory. We don't take kindly to stupid ass troublemakers like you all fucking shit up. My baby has to replace everything you guys messed up, he has to fix everything you guys broke." Jooheon slaps the glock in his hand.

"God, it would be so easy..." Jooheon turns to Changkyun, Kihyun, and Hyunwoo. He looks in Hyunwoo's eyes. He sees no remorse for these guys in his eyes. Jooheon knows what to do.

"Before you decide, they're also rapists. They've raped omegas that they traffic." Hyunwoo says, his voice hard as steel. Jooheon feels nauseous.

"Isn't that the icing on the  _cake."_ Jooheon clocks the glock, and rapid-fire shoots all three men, not shaking at all. Blood is everywhere, and it stains Jooheon's windbreaker. He uncocks the glock and hands it back to Changkyun. 

"I'm gonna go take a shower. Call someone to deal with the bodies. We gotta get someone to clean this wall. Should have shot them cleaner, but oh well." Jooheon rambles, walking up the steps of the basement. Jooheon doesn't like to kill; but he does when the people are disgusting human beings. He can remember what Hyoseob said about Minhyuk clear as day.

  


_"So what are you gonna do? Fuck your status in OB, I'll kill you." Hyoseob says after Jooheon is able to corner him. Jooheon shakes his head._

_"What did you say to Minhyuk? What?" Jooheon all but yells. "Why did you kill that woman?"_

_"That's none of your damn business." Hyoseob says, yawning. "Well this chat has been fun and all, but I'm gonna have to kill you now." Jooheon sighed. Hyoseob's canines and nails grew as his eyes turned yellow. Jooheon did the same. It wasn't like they turned into full wolves; that wasn't possible with the human body. They became a hybrid version of a wolf. The tension in the air was thick; if any omega came it would force them into a heat no matter how far it was. Alpha versus Alpha._

_Hyoseob put up a good fight; he got Jooheon a good few times._

_"You like the omega? I'm not even gay, but there's no way I'd let that tight hole go to waste. He seems like a cryer, you think he cries? I bet he's so pretty and sensitive, fuck, I'd just love to hear him scream." Jooheon lost it and slashed at Hyoseob's face, utterly cutting it up. Hyoseob let out a blood-curdling scream, and Jooheon was blind with rage and fury. He slashed at the man's body and he didn't stop until it was dead silent in the alleyway. When Jooheon stood up, he saw what he had done. Hyoseob was definitely dead. Police would classify this as overkill._

_Jooheon - still seeing red - dumped Hyoseob's body on an intersection of a street in Yang-eun territory. He had half the mind to leave the OB mark, but he thought better of the situation and dipped. The blood was so hard to get off his body, but it was all worth it if any chance of Hyoseob getting to Minhyuk was eradicated._

  


Jooheon stood under the nozzle of the shower and sighed. He was probably going to call Minhyuk after all of this. It was never easy killing, and even though the people might be horrible souls, it still sticks with you. You can't reverse an action like that. Jooheon steps out of the shower, and watches as the last bit of blood swoop down the drain. Jooheon dries himself off and his hair, dialing Minhyuk's number.

"Hey! I was just going to call you." Minhyuk says into the phone. Jooheon gets it now when old people say the connection you have with your mate is something different to any relationship in your life.

"Hey. Did the funeral home say anything?"

"Yes. They said they could still hold the funeral, I'm going to pay them extra. They're cremating the body right now. You should be able to get the jar in an hour. I think I picked out one Chunja would like." Jooheon gives a small smile as he slips on different pants.

"You're so thoughtful. What would we do without you?" Jooheon asks. He truly means it. 

"We'd all be a  _wreck._ See you later." Minhyuk says.

"See you." Jooheon tells him back, hanging up. After he leaves the bathroom, he makes his way out of the mansion but Hyunwoo stops him.

"Are you doing alright?" Hyunwoo asks. He always asks this after Jooheon has to do something drastic.

"I'm good. I just have to handle one more thing and then I'm heading back to the safe house." 

"Alright. Stay safe." Hyunwoo warns as he puts his arm around Kihyun's shoulders. Kihyun was the other leader of OB; he and Hyunwoo ran it as a team. Gangs and mafias alike all knew they were a thing even though they never say anything. Jooheon looks back at them and smiles. He has someone like Hyunwoo and Kihyun now. He has someone like Hoseok and Hyungwon now.

He has Minhyuk.

  


||

  


   


The funeral home was a quaint little building that looked more like an antique shop than anything else. Jooheon stepped in and an old woman greeted him.

"Hello! How can I help you?" She asks. Jooheon smiles. He adores the elderly.

"Hi, my mate called about an hour ago for a cremated body?" Jooheon asks. The old woman nods her head.

"That they did. Follow me." Jooheon follows the old lady to the back of the room.

"Here's the jar." She says, handing him a silver cylinder jar with various floral patterns engraved in it. It was pretty. Jooheon hugged it to his body. The lady also gave him a bag with a lock on it.

"I saw that you ride a motorcycle. You'll need that."

"Thank you." He says.

"Don't mention it. Now, when we put the casket at the funeral, we'll make sure it locks so no one can flip it over if they want to check." The old lady explains. Jooheon listens to her. "We'll say what we were told to, and don't worry. Your mate already paid us. He didn't have to pay us that much, but we really appreciate the help." Jooheon walks back with the old lady to the front.

"Thank you for everything you're doing." Jooheon tells her, meaning every word. She smiles at him. She has dimples just like him.

"You're welcome." Jooheon walks out of the store and he slings the bag over his shoulder as he cranks up his bike to drive back to the safe house. They needed to pack and leave tonight. Jooheon needed to get a car, or he could leave his bike at a friend's place while they took the train. Before he realized it, he was back at the safe house. He parked the bike in the garage, and opened the door.

"Honey, I'm home!" Jooheon sing-songed. Minhyuk padded towards the door giving Jooheon a look.

"Isn't that my line?" He questions. Jooheon swoops in and gives him a hug.

"I got the jar. It's in this bag, the lady was really nice." Minhyuk nods.

"She was a sweetheart. If we're leaving tonight, I've already packed." Jooheon nods.

"Let me grab a bag and then we'll leave soon." Jooheon says, racing to the room. Jooheon stuffed a few essential things in a throw bag, and he rushed down the stairs where Minhyuk was toeing into his shoes.

"You changed clothes. That was a cute outfit, why?" Jooheon didn't know how Minhyuk would feel knowing what he just did, so he shrugs.

"I wasn't feeling it anymore, decided to switch it up. Why, is this ugly now?" Jooheon asks, pointing to his striped sweater. Minhyuk slipped a scarf around his neck rolling his eyes. Jooheon put a cap on.

"Why are you like this?" Jooheon acts like he's thinking.

"Cause I'm one of a kind, baby. You know this." Minhyuk giggles at Jooheon and puts his backpack on. Jooheon slips on some gloves, and Minhyuk puts some on as well. It was colder at night than during the day.

"All ready to go?" Jooheon asks. Minhyuk nods and they turn off all the lights in the house, sliding back on Jooheon's bike.

"We have to go to a friend's house and drop my bike off there. I determined riding the train was better so that if anyone ever spotted us they couldn't trace a license plate." Jooheon speeds through the city of Seoul, and Minhyuk took a minute to admire how beautiful the city really was. Jooheon pulled into a automobile shop, and he parked his bike on the side. 

"C'mon." Jooheon says, grabbing Minhyuk's hand. Minhyuk didn't know that a simple action like hand-holding would make him break into a blush. That made no sense with how wild their sex was, but Minhyuk ignored that in favor of paying attention to Jooheon's friend.

"The name's Jackson Wang." Jackson says, holding his hand out for Minhyuk to shake. Minhyuk does, and he looks to Jooheon who's back outside rolling his bike into the shop.

"Jooheon and I became friends during college. This idiot bought that bike for way too cheap of a price, the damn thing barely cranked up. He and I worked on it that whole summer of freshman year, didn't we?" Jooheon nodded, smiling. Minhyuk always found his dimples cute.

"Yep. Thanks for this favor, Jackson. I'll be back for it in three days tops." Jackson laughs.

"You could leave it here for months and I wouldn't mind." Jooheon and Jackson slapped hands and brought each other in for a hug.

"Take care, man." Jooheon says. Jackson nods.

"You too, brother." They walk away from the automobile shop until they find a train stop.

"We'll have to purchase the tickets here." Jooheon says, pulling out his wallet and tapping buttons on the machine. Soon, two shiny tickets to Gwangju come out of a slot, and they pick them up.

"I'm probably going to fall asleep on this thing." Jooheon says, yawning.

"You've been out all day, you should." Minhyuk says. Minhyuk had called his friends earlier telling them he was taking a mental reprive for himself, and Hoseok hit the nail on the head guessing he was out with Jooheon.

  


_"Oh my god, you and Jooheon are fucking! That's your little mental reprive, isn't it?" Minhyuk groaned._

_"Quit teasing him, sweetheart." Hyungwon says in the background. "Have fun, Minhyuk."_

_"Thank you, Hyungwon. Some people have heart!" Minhyuk shouts. Hoseok makes a noise on the phone. Minhyuk can't see him, but he knows he's pouting._

_"Let me have my fun! I never get to tease him for anything!"_

_"Tell Jeonghan and Seungcheol what's happening. Tell them I'm safe, okay? They'll want to know if I'm safe."_

_"Will do! Have fun! Don't do too much, you have to be able to walk Friday!" Hoseok sing-songs, laughing. Minhyuk wishes he could punch Hoseok through the phone, but he settles for hanging up instead._

  


||

  


   


Minhyuk had a crick in his neck. He groaned as he sat up. He tapped Jooheon on the shoulder. Jooheon made a noise.

"Wake up. We're here I think. Or we're close." Minhyuk says. Jooheon slowly sits up. Gwangju didn't look anything like Seoul, that was for sure. Minhyuk sat, wishing he could visit a bathroom.

"I think I have enough money to rent a room in a hotel." Jooheon says, yawning. He and Minhyuk step off the bus and head to the closest hotel.

"I'll call Chunja once we get the room." Minhyuk says. Jooheon gives a thumbs-up and walks to the receptionist desk. Minhyuk sits down in a chair. He's hoping this all goes well so this whole situation can be water under the bridge. He loves Jooheon, but he doesn't want to be involved with anything like this anymore. He doesn't understand how Jooheon does it all the time. Jooheon taps him on the shoulder.

"We can head to our room." Minhyuk follows Jooheon until he stops in front of a door with the number 17 on it. Jooheon unlocks the door and they come inside, Jooheon plopping on the bed and Minhyuk going in the bathroom. When he steps out of the bathroom, Jooheon goes in. Minhyuk finds Chunja's number in his phone and he dials it.

"Hello? You've arrived?" Chunja asks. 

"Yes. Where can we meet you at?" 

"I'll text you an address. Your mate will have to stay outside with the other alphas and betas. I can only talk to you." Minhyuk nods.

"Alright, we'll do it." Chunja abruptly hangs up and Minhyuk looks at his phone. What was that about?

"Did you call her?" Jooheon says, gurgling mouthwash. 

"Yeah, she's gonna send us and address." Minhyuk's phone beeped, and sure enough there was an address.

"You know anything about this place? She said you'd have to stay outside with the other alphas and betas?" Jooheon peered at Minhyuk's phone and his jaw set.

"That's Ssangyonpa territory all the way." Minhyuk's heart drops to his ass.

"She can't be setting us up, right?" Jooheon sighs.

"It's probably leaked that I was the one behind Hyoseob's murder. That gang would hate me by nature." Minhyuk wants to cry.

"What the fuck do we do?" Jooheon lays down on the bed, resting his head on Minhyuk's thigh.

"We go. That's what we do."

  


||

  


   


It took twenty minutes to arrive to the address Chunja sent Minhyuk. Minhyuk couldn't help it, he was shaking. He could fight, yes, but if a bunch of alphas came at him, biology would fail him especially if they played dirty and amped up their scents. Minhyuk figured he could play dirty and amp his up too, but that might end in something he doesn't want. Jooheon appeard calm walking next to him on the trail. Their hands were linked together, and there was no way Minhyuk was gonna let go unless Chunja was in sight.

"Are you not fucking worried?" Minhyuk asks, his voice raising in pitch. Jooheon gives him an open look.

"I've done stuff like this for years, Minnie. It helps if you don't freak out. You have a clearer head that way." 

Minhyuk felt a little better having Jooheon at his side - someone who's experienced - but he was still worried. This could go south real fast, and Minhyuk doesn't know if he'd be able to catch up. Minhyuk has the jar slung around his body in the bag. Minhyuk saw Jooheon put weapons on his person, and Jooheon handed Minhyuk a knife. He told him to use it if need be, and he showed him some tricks. Minhyuk seriously hoped he remembered the shit Jooheon said if anything went wrong.

They stopped in front of a walkway with a gate. 

"This must be it. It only leads to that huge ass house." Minhyuk said, pointing ahead. Jooheon nods.

"You need to not freak out, okay. People can practically feel fear, and fear puts people on edge. People act out when fear is involved. Try and stay calm, okay?" Jooheon instructs. Minhyuk nods.

"Okay." Minhyuk pulls out his phone and calls Chunja.

"We're outside the gate." He says. Chunja makes a sound.

"Wait a moment. It'll open in a minute." She says, and the line is silent for a moment. She hadn't hung up, so she must need to tell them something. Soon, they hear the creaking of the gate opening.

"Keep walking down the path and stop in front of the house." Chunja directs. Minhyuk and Jooheon walk, and Minhyuk can't shake the feeling that this whole place is off. They stop in front of the house just like Chunja told them to.

"We stopped. Now what?" Chunja sighs in the phone.

"You have to split up. I'll direct your mate where he has to go. Minhyuk, you have to come with me." They agree, and after a few seconds, Chunja appears at the door. All her injuries have went down some, and just faint bruises are left in their place. Her brown hair has been cut into bangs now, and she looks a little different. She smells different too; smells like someone who's indeed pregnant.

"Come inside." She says, stepping to the side. Minhyuk and Jooheon enter the house and Chunja walks while they follow. Chunja points down a hallway.

"You have to go down there. Where I'm taking Minhyuk only omegas are allowed. You'd set people off, do you understand?" Chunja says quietly. Jooheon nods. Minhyuk quickly pulls Jooheon in for a kiss.

"Stay safe." Minhyuk breathes on his lips. 

"You too, sugar." Jooheon says before he turns and walks down the hallway. Chunja touches Minhyuk's hand and she directs him upstairs. This house was huge, and there were a lot of rooms. Minhyuk would say it looked like the set for you typical scary movie. Many different smells surrounded the house, and it was a little overwhelming for Minhyuk. Chunja was probably used to it. Chunja stops in front of a door and opens it to a room that's painted lavender all over.

"Please sit. I know it's getting late." Minhyuk sits down on the bed in the room next to Chunja.

"I have something for you." Minhyuk says, taking the bag off. He hands it to Chunja, and she opens it, pulling out the jar. Chunja breaks into tears looking at it, and she gingerly touches it, as if it's made of glass.

"Oh, Yeung." She whispers. She plants a kiss to the jar and sets it on the desk next to the bed. She wipes her eyes.

"What is going on? Why is all of this happening and why am I involved? What in the hell is going on, Chunja? You're the only one who's left alive to tell." Minhyuk asks, looking at her.

"I'll just start from the beginning. Hyoseob and I were a part of Ssangyonpa first. We didn't know each other like that, and I was getting tired of living in Gwangju. I wanted to explore all of Korea, hell maybe even take a trip to Jeju. When they were asking for people who would be secret intel to spy on Yang-eun, I offered to go. Yeung was okay with that; she proposed the idea of them building the soup shop we have here in Gwangju to Yang-eun territory in Seoul. Hyoseob also offered to come along with a few other people, and that's how we met."

"He was so sweet, he was everything I dreamed in a man. We became a part of Yang-eun, and we also became a couple. Yeung didn't approve, but I could never figure out why. She would always talk about how she got a bad vibe from him, but I didn't see it. Couldn't see it. I was blind. Hyoseob was always someone who liked to run his mouth and show how tough he was. He gained a reputation, which was something he was supposed to avoid. We needed to keep a low-profile to snoop on Yang-eun and find out their plans."

"He kept going off plan, and our relationship became strained. Albeit, we still had sex. The last time was the kicker; I felt different afterwards. I took pregnancy tests, and I was pregnant. Because our relationship had become strained, I did something for myself. I began to work at OB rings instead of Yang-eun ones. The people there were friendlier. I understood they didn't trust me all that much, but I appreciated the way they ran things. It was very different from Yang-eun standards."

"Hyoseob was going behind everyone's back and...and he made alliances with people in the Yakuza." Minhyuk sucked in his breath. This guy really wasn't shit. "He was always gone, always double-crossing people. I had a feeling he was even fucking other girls behind my back. The move to Seoul changed him, or maybe he was always like that. Seoul gave him the opportunity to network and become who he always wanted to be. When Hyoseob found out I was pregnant, he tried to kick my stomach...he tried to get rid of it himself. I wouldn't let him. He hit me, abused me. I left him and roomed with some of the OB girls that worked in the ring."

"Then I saw you. An omega who had made it for himself, helping others. I figured you could help me. That's why I called. I was living a dark life, but maybe one action I did could stop Hyoseob from becoming too powerful. When we lost the case, I knew I had to leave. I bolted Seoul and came back here. I had to tell that I was pregnant with Hyoseob's child...and I had to tell all that he did. Ssangyonpa...they were outraged. They wished death on Hyoseob, and they...they wanted to kill my baby as well. It was the baby of a traider. Yang-eun probably found out about Hyoseob and I, and they probably want my baby dead as well." 

"I called you up again because I knew you could help me. When they found out Hyoseob had already been killed, they were angry. They wanted the person who killed Hyoseob, and they wanted to bring pain to them because that was theirs to kill. They're just angry people at the moment. They told me it was either that person, or my baby." Minhyuk let the words sink in.

"You did set me up. How did you know it was Jooheon?" Chunja sighed.

"Once the body had been found, it was only a matter of time before someone snitched on what they saw. A few people had witnessed Jooheon slice Hyoseob to hell and back." Minhyuk shot up off the bed.

"You're a _bitch._ " Minhyuk spat. He didn't know what they were doing to Jooheon right now.

"I have a baby I need to protect. I'll do anything for them. Anything. We're omegas. You have to understand." Minhyuk wanted to fling her body across the room.

"What happens now? Hyoseob is dead, so the connections he's had with the Yakuza have to be dead as well." 

"In theory that would be true, but it doesn't work like that. Hyoseob had lackeys. You see, this cycle of crime and feuds never ends. It just keeps going. There's no way to escape it. What was the whole point of this whole thing? This whole ordeal? Hyoseob fucked us all over. Even though the bastard is dead, he's still making everyone's life a living hell. He wants everyone to fight. He wants chaos. He wants a war. Tomorrow is a pointless feud between all these gangs and mafias. Isn't that what this is? Just a hiearchy of power, for power? We'll backstab anyone because of our own greed. I backstabbed you because of the greed towards my child in a sense." Minhyuk was crying.

"This whole shit is pointless. Utterly futile. I'm going to move away from this country with my baby, and hopefully build another life for myself. Yeung was a hardass most of the time, but this is what she would have wanted. I am truly sorry I had to do this to you." Minhyuk didn't even know what to say. He gave Chunja a once-over. This was a pitiful girl with a baby she didn't even plan to have and no one else who matters to her in the world except her child.

He still hated her. Minhyuk pivoted out of the room and rushed down the stairs and down the hallway Chunja told Jooheon to go to. He was going to find Jooheon, and he was going to be alive, damnit! It couldn't end like this; Jooheon dying just because of some petty revenge. Minhyuk wouldn't allow it.

   


   


||

  


Jooheon couldn't tell what the time was. Blood dripped down his chin from his mouth, and he was pretty sure his nose was broken. Jooheon had heard of the man who was currently beating his ass right now. Byeon Seunggyo, one of the prime leaders of Ssangyonpa. 

"It was you? A kid from OB?" Seunggyo said, laughing. "How  _rich._ Why'd you do it? That wasn't your battle to fight." 

"You've kinda..." Jooheon starts. It hurts to talk. "...fucked my face up. I did it because-" Seunggyo delivered a kick to a spot that was bruising on Jooheon's abdomen. Jooheon bent over and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. If Seunggyo kept delivering kicks like that, Jooheon was going to piss himself, and that was  _not happening._

"You have a smart ass mouth. Figures you're from OB; Hyunwoo has one too." Seunggyo says. 

"OB never did anything  _wrong_ to Ssangyonpa! What the hell are you doing beating me for?" Seunggyo frowns.

"You stepped in where you weren't supposed to. Hyoseob was  _mine_ to kill, not yours." 

"Well Hyoseob threatened my mate, and I wasn't having it, so I killed him. I had no prior knowlege of his wrongdoings to Ssangyonpa. Let me go." Seunggyo stands up from where he was crouched in front of Jooheon and brushed his suit off. Suddenly, the door busted open, and a man fell to the ground with it.

"Ah, fuck!" Minhyuk yells. He's glad the doors are old just like this house. Jooheon looks up and thanks god he's okay.

"Jooheon!" Minhyuk screams, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Oh god, oh god,  _why?"_

"Chunja must have left by now." Seunggyo says, mostly to himself. "It's a shame she won't stay with us. Stay with me."

"Why would she stay with you when you used her baby as damn leverage to get revenge for something so fucking stupid?" Minhyuk says through tears. "You're  _sick_ for bringing a baby in your affairs. The baby isn't even born yet." 

"Excuse me for getting people to cooperate the only way I know how. Hyoseob fucked us all over; he's the very reason the Yakuza started coming into Korea in the first place. They would snoop from time to time, but Hyoseob and his lackeys were purposefully leading them all to various groups in Korea. He's the biggest traider Ssangyonpa has ever  _known._ Who knows if Chunja's child will come out as demented as he was? Who can tell?"

"You don't know if that'll even happen! Don't threaten her! _Let him go!_ " Seunggyo sighs. 

"Uncuff him." Men go to uncuff Jooheon, and he collapses to the ground. Minhyuk runs to him and sighs.

"This whole world is fucked up. This was all pointless, people are getting hurt over nothing. You just hurt Jooheon because of your stupid revenge and pride." Minhyuk spat seething. Seunggyo turned to Jooheon.

"Shut your mate up; he has a mouth on him. Be lucky he isn't dead. Ssangyonpa isn't known for being nice, after all. Don't come here again." Jooheon nods weakly.

"Duly noted." He coughs out, blood covering his shirt. Minhyuk helps Jooheon stand up and they walk out of the house together. Minhyuk faintly sees Chunja hop into a car and drive off a back road. Throughout everything, he hopes she gets to live a better life. Minhyuk sighs. He has to walk with Jooheon all the way back to the hotel and Jooheon is no light man. It's nighttime now, and Minhyuk sighs. Things would be so much different if he just said  _no_ to Chunja's case. But Hyoseob had indeed beaten her, and Minhyuk doesn't tolerate that.

"Minhyuk." Jooheon says, stuffy.

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Thought right now's a good a time as any to tell you." Jooheon simply says, looking back down at the ground. Minhyuk's heart squeezes.

"I love you, too, bighead." 

  


||  


  


   


"We have to tell everyone not to fight tomorrow." Minhyuk said. Jooheon had managed to set his own nose back in place, and Minhyuk had to refrain from throwing up right on the spot. "This is what Hyoseob wanted; pure chaos. He wanted people to hate each other, he wanted the Yakuza to come in and fuck everything up even worse. He's getting his dream even in death." Minhyuk spoke as he was applying a cream to Jooheon's cuts.

"Yeah, well, if it's going on what Chunja said, there's no use. This shit will keep happening. Evil people always exist, and in the next generation, they'll most likely get their own Hyoseob. There was probably one in the generation before us." Minhyuk gave Jooheon an incrediculous look.

"While that's true, our friends are gonna be there. Hoseok and Hyungwon told me over the phone they'd show up for moral support." Jooheon snorts at that. "My friends from the detective agency will come, and your friend Jackson might come." 

"Why are you putting Jackson into that example?"

"I needed another friend for you, okay?" Minhyuk whines, putting band-aids on cuts.

"I get what you mean. What are we gonna do, though? There's no way Chunja is gonna be around tomorrow; she has her grandmother now so she has no reason to stay here. Ssangyonpa utterly hates us for a stupid reason, and Yang-eun probably want to take a crack at me as well. I was fucking sloppy, I can't even tell you who saw me do it. Snitches are a common occurence in this scene, Minhyuk. After this is all done, we have to be careful still." 

"I could tell Jeonghan." Minhyuk offers.

"No. He's one of those detective guys." 

"If we cancel the funeral, it'll look like something's up. If we keep it, something's gonna happen. There's no win here." Minhyuk says, sulking.

"We could catch a bus back to Seoul tonight and I can tell OB everything. We can come up with a plan quickly." Minhyuk nods.

"That's the best plan we have right now. Let's go."

  


||

  


   


"Hyoseob did all of that? Holy shit." Hyunwoo said at the table. It had taken them a few hours to get back to Seoul, and Jooheon had called for an emergency meeting at the safe house. He figured it'd be better to have it there because they were probably going to have to deliberate for a while.

"Yes. Hence why I look like hell. Seunggyo let me have it." Hyunwoo clenched his jaw.

"Seunggyo can  _have it_ himself. He's lucky Kihyun's keeping me civil and sane. I should kill him for hurting you like that." Kihyun sighed, placing his hand on Hyunwoo's shoulder.

"So since this is all just a ploy to get everyone fighting, to keep Hyoseob's plan from succeding the funeral needs to go smoothly?" Minhyuk nods.

"Precisely. We have to make sure nothing goes wrong tomorrow."

"How do we do that?" Changkyun asks, stumped.

"We have to make sure Ssangyonpa and Yang-eun don't fight. That's the biggest one. Chilsungpa and Seo-bang don't like each other either, so they can't fight. Hyunwoo called for Bukmoonpa to aid us, so someone'll have to inform them of this plan." Jooheon says, slipping on his glasses and making notes. Minhyuk starts the coffee machine up. He figures everyone will need it.

"I'll make the call." Kihyun offers. 

"We'll need to round up our best men and have them stationed inside. Bukmoonpa can have most of their men on the outside and by the doors." Jooheon says, pointing at the map of the building Changkyun printed off. 

"The minute she's buried, people can go home. Then we'll know we did it." Hyunwoo says, clasping his hands together. "After everyone finishes their assingments, it's off to the sack. We're all gonna sleep here. Tomorrow's gonna be a day. Kihyun steps aside to call Bukmoonpa, Changkyun makes notes on the map, Hyunwoo calls the OB headquarters, and Jooheon furiously scribbles and writes more notes. Minhyuk had to say, people really underestimated how these things worked. They were all diligent in preparing for tomorrow, and Minhyuk sank into the couch, watching. He whipped his phone out and dialed Hoseok's number.

"Yeah?" Hoseok said, answering quickly. "You and Jooheon having fun?"

"I'm back, now. I'm at Jooheon's place." Minhyuk told him. It wasn't a  _complete_ lie. "Don't come to the funeral tomorrow." 

"What? Why?" Hyungwon asked. Hoseok must have it on the speaker again.

"There's a safety issue. Don't come, please.' Minhyuk begged, his voice trembling.

"If you're serious about it...then we won't. Will Jeonghan be there?" Hoseok asks.

"His whole agency will be there. They're trained. You and Hyungwon aren't." Hoseok makes a noise of agreement.

"You got me there. We won't come, but you stay safe!" Hoseok nagged. Minhyuk laughed.

"I will." The line disconnected, and Minhyuk curled into the couch, closing his eyes.

  


||

  


   


Jooheon has not hated waking up as much as he did this morning. He thought Hyoseob was the most ignorant man he's ever had the displeasure of knowing. In the middle of the night, he had moved Minhyuk from the couch to the bed and he let Hyunwoo, Kihyun, and Changkyun take the pull-out couch.

"I hate this." Jooheon says, sitting up stretching.

"Hopefully this'll be the last of it." Minhyuk says. Everyone rushes to get dressed; they woke up kind of late. The funeral started at 2 pm and it was 10 am. They had a little time left.

"We basically just have to keep everyone in check, and then mission success. If everyone fights, someone's going to end up getting shot. That's just how these things esclate. Maybe we'll never truly know why Hyoseob wanted this to happen." Jooheon says, checking himself in the mirror. His face was beat-up, but he would have to live with that. Minhyuk sat on the edge of the bed. Why  _would_ Hyoseob want everyone to fight? Chunja reduced it all to being pointless conflict, but it had to be more than that. Minhyuk sits up, gasping. Shit, why had they not thought of this  _before?_

"He wants everyone to fight so that we're distracted. It all has to be a distraction. He deliberately brought Yakuza men into Korea. He had planned all of this. He hadn't planned on Chunja pressing charges on him or her getting pregnant, but he adjusted. The other Yakuza strikes were distractions too; they were meant to throw everyone off. He probably planned on killing Yeung, but he didn't plan on dying beforehand. His lackeys probably adjusted to me making a public funeral. Hyoseob had to know that if he died, it would be the perfect distraction to everything. Even if he didn't die, he'd have another good distraction that would throw everyone off while his lackeys and the Yakuza men did what they came to do. Hyoseob has a power complex. He wanted to have it all, and nothing here was giving it to him. He had to go and get it himself by any means." Minhyuk concludes. Jooheon's mouth is wide open.

"Holy  _fuck! Hyunwoo!"_ Jooheon all but yells, sprinting down the stairs to tell Minhyuk's conclusion. Minhyuk's head hurt. He can't wait to go back to just solving the problems of omegas. This was way too stressful.

   


  


||

  


   


"Minhyuk's conclusion is it; that's what's happening. Everything is a goddamn distraction. Hyoseob, the smart fuck. I've ordered Bukmoonpa's men to stay alert at all times. We have to wait for the distraction to come, and we have to see exactly what the Yakuza is getting out of this whole ordeal." Hyunwoo says, driving the car. They were all in riding in the same car to the event, and they didn't plan on staying long. Minhyuk knew he had to say some words since he was the one that planned it all.

"You need to be alert yourself." Jooheon says, clasping his hand with Minhyuk's.

"I will be. You know me." Jooheon gave him a deadpan look and Minhyuk couldn't do anything but laugh. The venue was spacious, and there were people here already. Minhyuk recognized that Seunggyo guy talking and smoking with some men inside. He quickly looked away. There were so many people who were tattooed. Tattoos really did tell a lot. Jooheon had a few, but Minhyuk had a low pain tolerance. He couldn't get one even though he thought they looked cool. He might just pass out.

"I'm gonna meet up with some people." Minhyuk whispers in Jooheon's ear.

"Alright." Jooheon squeezes Minhyuk's hand and sends him off. Minhyuk finds Jooheon with everyone else from the detective agency.

"There's so many damn gangs/mafias here." Jeonghan mutters looking around. "Shit's ridiculous. We know Chunja is a part of a gang now. She may or may not show." Minhyuk found it suprising how behind Jeonghan was.

"I have to speak soon. Wish me good luck." Minhyuk says. 

"Good luck!" Hansol yells, laughing over something Soonyoung said. People begin to file in and fill their seats. Just as they discussed, either OB men or Bukmoonpa men sit betwen different groups. The old lady from the funeral home steps up. On her nametag it says Aera.

"Let's have a short moment of silence for prayer." Aera speaks, putting her head down. Caps slide off of heads as it's quiet in the establishment.

"Okay. We're going to have lawyer Lee Minhyuk say a few words before we start the procession to bury Oh Yeung." Minhyuk feels rather than sees all the eyes on him, and he shakes off the nerves. He just needs to say a little something, and then they can leave and find out what the true deal is. He steps up to the podium and clears his throat.

"I had the pleasure of talking with this woman one time." Minhyuk really wasn't knowledged with the story of how she died and how it appeared to the public, so he couldn't mess this up by talking too much. "She was a very abrasive soul, but you could tell there were things she really cared about. She knew what she believed, and she stuck to it. That makes her a pretty cool woman. We're all here to send her off today because unfortunately, her granddaughter couldn't be here. I promised her granddaughter I'd do a good job of it." Minhyuk has to refrain from crying. Everything's a lie, everything's just a distraction.

"When we send her off, whether you knew her or not, think about your own grandmother or father or whoever was important to you. Think about them and if they're alive, thank them for helping you. If they aren't, pray for them now. I want everyone to gain something from this-" Minhyuk says. Then, it hits him. It hits him and it  _hurts._ He can hear the panicked gasps that resound around the room. And then he's falling. He's falling and he can't help it. He wants to stop, but he can't. His back feels wet with something, and some part of his mind shouts  _your blood!_ Minhyuk dismisses it and he fights to keep his eyes open. 

He wishes Jooheon was right next to him. He's kind of mad this interrputed the flow of his speech; he was doing pretty good. 

 _"Oh, holy fuck! Call 911 right now!"_ He hears Jeonghan shout. Is he close to him? He tries to sit up but his shoulder screams in pain. He grunts loudly and hands are all over his face. He snaps his eyes open wide and sees Jeonghan checking him out.

"Shit, I didn't think it would be you. Stupid!" Jeonghan muttered while checking Minhyuk for more injuries. Minhyuk sighed. He just wanted to go to sleep. He also wanted to see Jooheon, but sleep was calling him. Minhyuk closed his eyes and breathed in and out. It was a dreamless sleep.

  


   


||

  


   


He sat up quickly on a bed that wasn't his own. Minhyuk looked around, and he saw Jooheon sleeping in a chair, rumpled shirt, messed-up hair and all. 

"Jooheon? What happened?" Minhyuk asks. He looks at his body, and his left arm is in a sling. He has a huge bandage on his shoulder, and he figures that's where he was shot. Minhyuk gasps. _Shot._ He was shot.

"I was the distraction. We never factored me in, but I was it." Minhyuk said in the air.

"You're right." Jooheon says, stretching out wide. He sticks his feet out and groans loudly. 

"You were the distraction. We found the trajectory point of where the person shot at, and we followed them. The Yakuza were planning on bombing that hotel where Seo-bang holds all their business deals. They own territory there. Then they were going to bomb an important establishment to each faction. We found them in enough time before they did."

"Did anyone else get hurt?"

"That guy..Hansol is it? He twisted his ankle but that's about it." Minhyuk thanked god.

"My arm's in a sling."

"You did get shot in that shoulder. When we rounded all of them, and OB wasn't too kind to them. We were able to pick Hyoseob's lackeys out of the woodwork, and we dealt with them accordingly. Other groups got their pick as well." Minhyuk didn't want to imagine what he meant by "dealing with them." Minhyuk looked at Jooheon and saw he was bandaged up more than he was before the funeral.

"Did the casket get buried?" Minhyuk asked.

"It did...after all the commotion." Jooheon answered.

"Are you okay? Seriously?"

"Minhyuk you've been resting for three days in here. I along with everyone else has been worried shitless.You didn't make a move, you just laid there quiet. I thought I was losing you, and all hell would have broken loose if I did. But I didn't. You're here right now, and I'm more thankful for that you don't even know." Minhyuk smiles.

"What now? Is it over?" Jooheon sighs, running his hands through his hair.

"For now. As Chunja said, it's never _truly_ over. But for right now, you're fine. You're safe. Rest." Joohoen says, leaning in to plant a kiss on Minhyuk's head. "When you get outta here we'll re-decorate your practice, huh? How's that sound?" 

"Amazing. You can't choose anything though, I have a feeling Kihyun was the one that decorated that safe house." Jooheon scoffed.

"I have great taste, thank you very much!" Minhyuk eyed him up and down laughing.

"Yeah, okay. We'll go with that."

  


||

  


   


It had been a _considerable_ amount of time since the whole Chunja/Hyoseob incident passed. Minhyuk gradually got his strength back, and now he can fully use his shoulder. His practice was cleaned up and decorated with the help of Jooheon and all his friends. Jooheon made sure some people were left for Jeonghan and Seungcheol to arrest. The man who shot Minhyuk ended up being killed, but there were many more men who were incriminating.  


"How'd the case go?" Hoseok asks as Minhyuk walks into the cafe. He slumps into a booth and throws his briefcase and blazer on the other side.

"Hit me with some tea, Hoseok. It was stressful." Minhyuk still worked as a lawyer, he just had to be careful. The whole ethical side of the situation was kind of fucked up, but he and Jooheon made it work. Jooheon decided to take a job outside of OB so he could appear normal to everyone else. Hyunwoo made sure it was legit, and that Jooheon would be protected.

"Well, if it isn't my mate." Jooheon said, walking into the cafe. Hyungwon was siting behind the counter. The cafe was slow at this time, and Hoseok had called Hyungwon for extra help. He also wanted to see his mate, he isn't going to lie.

"Hey." Minhyuk greets him, standing up to give Jooheon a bear hug. Jooheon smells them. Ever since they mated, their smells mixed together presenting them as mated for everyone else. They both smelled like mint cookies now. Hyungwon would call it annoying, but Jooheon would quickly retaliate and say his and Hoseok's combined smell of apple cinnamon was an assault on his nose.

"You ready to go home? Or do you wanna stay here for a bit?" Jooheon asks. Throughout Minhyuk's recovery, Jooheon had asked Hyunwoo if he could keep the safe house as his own. Hyunwoo agreed, quickly finding another place to set one up. Jooheon ran the idea by Minhyuk, and if the man jumping him was an indication of how he felt, Jooheon could say Minhyuk agreed with the idea. Minhyuk and Jooheon both slowly moved into the house and now it was theirs and theirs alone.

"Let me get my tea and we can head out." Minhyuk said. "Can you put it in a cup, Hoseok?" Minhyuk asks. Hoseok nods and does so while Hyungwon smiles softly at them.

"Why are you looking like that?" Jooheon asks warily. Hyungwon scowled at him.

"Can I not be happy for my two friends? You guys finally got together, and it isn't just a pipe dream, thank god." Hoseok slapped Hyungwon on the back playfully.

"Oh, stop Hyungwon! Here's your tea." Hoseok said, sliding the cup to Minhyuk. Minhyuk paid him while Jooheon stole a pastry from one of the displays.

"Thank you!" They both shouted.

"Jooheon! You can't keep stealing pasteries!" Hoseok yelled as the door jingled closed. Jooheon and Minhyuk rode Jooheon's bike home, and when they opened the door, their cocker spaniel Ruby barked happily at them from the threshold. Jooheon picked her up and Ruby licked his face.

"Hello, girl! How are you?" Jooheon asks and Minhyuk makes his way outside to check the mail. He opens up the mailbox and takes it out. He sifts through it all: bills, products he isn't going to buy, and an envelope with the words  _to Lee Minhyuk_ written in big black ink. He turns the knob of the front door open and steps inside.

"What is it? Is it another weird product? I swear, I don't understand why we keep getting shit from infomercials." Jooheon mutters. Minhyuk sits on the couch and shakes his head.

"No...I got a letter. I don't know from who." Minhyuk hastily opened it and there was a long letter with pictures. Jooheon sat next to him and leaned over Minhyuk's shoulder.

"Maybe you got a fan letter. You are a kick-ass lawyer after all." Jooheon says, kissing his neck. Minhyuk turns the photos over and sees it's photos of a baby. A baby boy. He looks at the last photo, and he sees it's Chunja with her baby. This letter came from her.

"How would she know where we live?" Minhyuk asked confused.

"She could still have connection, or she could have given someone instructions on how to get it to you; who knows?" Jooheon said, shrugging. "Read the letter!" Minhyuk unfolded the piece of paper, and carefully read it.

  


_Dear Minhyuk,_

_As I write this letter, I am filled with the knowledge that you don't like me, hate me even. When I told you I was sorry for what I did, I truly meant it. I wish it didn't have to resort to that, but I had to see my baby alive. I had to know they would be okay. Leaving was one of the hardest things I had to do. Everywhere I turned, I saw Yeung. I broke down many times, trying to see if I wanted to live. If I wanted to stay. My baby growing was my answer. This child who came from broken parents needed a chance to become better. This child needed a chance to shine._

_Once I found people to help me, I moved to another country. America seemed nice, so I used the rest of the money I had to move there. The journey there by boat was horrid. I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it. Someone helped me make documents, and once I was in the country, (that was hard in itself) I was able to settle down in New York. I work at a small resturant, and I've made some friends. I go by my American name now, and learning English was difficult. I made a deal with the resturant. While I was pregnant, I would handle all the finances. Once I had my baby, I would move to helping in the kitchen. Yeung taught me how to cook, so I could do it well._

_Having a baby is the most painful thing I think I've endured. But my baby boy came out healthy and alive. The people I befriended from the resturant helped me after it was all over, and when I looked into Taekwoon's eyes, I thought of you. You let me leave; you didn't stop me. None of this would be possible if it wasn't for you. Thank you so much. I cannot express my gratitude in mere words, I wish I could give you everything. If you ever do come to America, make sure you stop by Yang's Noodle Shop. I'll be ready to serve you a bowl._

_With Love,_

_Chunja._

  


Minhyuk folded the letter back and placed all the pictures softly back in the envelope.

"Woah." Jooheon said. "That was..."

"That was the closure we needed." Minhyuk says. He had harbored a hate for Chunja, he isn't going to refute that. But reading that letter it slowly went away. Minhyuk understood why she did it, and he felt Jooheon did, too.

"I need to do something." Minhyuk said, shooting up and walking to the kitchen table. Jooheon grabbed Ruby from where she was walking on the floor and scooped her up in his lap.

"Okay! Ruby and I'll be on the couch!" Minhyuk pulled his phone out and quickly looked for the address of Yang's Noodle Shop in New York. Once he found it, he saved it in his phone and quickly found a piece of paper and a pen out of his briefcase. Minhyuk sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the piece of paper. After a minute, he uncapped the pen and started to write, the words flowing out as if he was talking to an old friend.

  


_Dear Chunja,_

_It's Minhyuk. I forgive you._  


**Author's Note:**

> Seo-bang: the Seo-bang Faction [Seoul]
> 
> Yang-eun: the Yang-eun Faction [Seoul]
> 
> OB: The OB Faction [Seoul]
> 
> Chilsungpa: The Seven Star Gang [Busan]
> 
> Ssangyonpa: The Double Dragons Gang [Gwangju]
> 
> Bukmoonpa: The Northern Gate Gang [Suwon]
> 
> Jumok: translates to "fist"; gang that was around during the early 1900s [Seoul?]
> 
> It is also true that throughout history, Korean gangs/mafias and the Yakuza genuinely DON'T like each other. Um, thanks for reading if you got this far.


End file.
